Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-09-22

Htu pun JOkCllCI On IhO manu-
all the debauchees and pro1igates and
assassins of the ages, and their unan-
imous verdict concerning the bible
would be, "Let it burn" Mind you, l
do not say that all infidels are inn
moral, but do say that all the scape-
graces and scoundrels of the universe
agree with them about the bible.
Let me vote with those who be-
lieve in the holy scriptures. Men
believe other things with half the evil
dence required to believe the bible.
The distinguished Abner Kneeland
rejected the scriptures, and then put
all his money into an enterprise or
the recovery of that hocus-pocus Cap
tain Kids treasures" Kneeland's
faith for doing so being founded on a
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 authenticity of
the scriptures is so exact and so vivid
that no man, honest and sane, can
thoroughly and continuously and
prayerfully read them without enter
ing their dis ,ipl ship. So put that
internal evidence paramount. How
are you led to believe in letter you
re Give from hu band or wife or child
or friend? You know the handwrit-
ing. You know the style. You rec
ognize the sentiment. When the let
ter comes you do not summon the
postmaster who stamped it and the
postmaster who received il and the let
ter ca ri who brought it to your door
o prove that IL is genuine letter
The internal evidence settles it and by
The a fngay.. or
tie the fact that the bible is the hand
writing and communicates of the in
finite God.
Furthermore, as have already intl-
mated, we may increase our faith by
the testimony of others. Perhaps we
of lesser brain may have been over
come by superstition or cajoled into
an acceptance OF hollow pretense
80 ! will this morning turn this house
into a court room aud SUNNI wit
mes es, and you shall be the jury. and
! now cmpanel You for that purpose,
and | will put upon the witness stand
men whom AL the world acknowledge
to he strong intellectually and whose
evidence in any othrr court room
would be incon rovcrtible. | will not
call to the witness stand any min ister
of the gospel, for lie might be preju-
diced. There are two ways of taking
an oath in n court TO IN. One is by
putting the liFs 10 the bible and the
other is by holding up the right hand
toward heaven. Now, in this case, il
is the bible that is on trial; we
will not ask the witness to put the
book TO his lips, for that would imply
that the sanctity and divinity 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. Samuel =.
Chase, chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States. appointed
by President Lincoln, will take the
wi ness stand. 'Chief JUST e Chase,
upon your oath, please to state what
you have to say about the book com
monty called the bible" The witness
replies: There came a 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. it
was long and serious and profound
study, and using the same principles
of evidence in tn religious matter as
| always do in secular matters, have
come 10 the decision that the billie is
a supernatural book, that it has come
from God, and that the only safety tor
the human race is TO follow its teach
ings." Judge, that will do 60 back
again to your pillow of dust on the
banks of the Ohio" Next | put upon
the witness stand a President of the
United Sta es-John Quincy Adams.
president Adams, what have You to
say about the bible and Christianity"
The President replies: Il have for
many years made it a practice to read
through the bible once year. NV
custom is to read four or five chapters
every morning Immediately after aris-
ing from my bed. 1t employs about
an hour of my time and seems to me
the most suita bic manner of beginning
the dav. In what light soever we re.
gard the bible, whether with reference
TO revelation, TO history, or to morali-
ty, { is an Invaluable mine of kuowl-
edge and virtue" Next / put upon
the witness stand Sir Isaac Newton,
the author of the "Principia'' and the
greatest natural phi oSopher the world
has ever seen. "Sir Isaac, what have
you to say concerning the bible?" The
philosophers reply is: I'VE account
the scripture, OF God to be the most
sublime philosophy"
Next put upon the witness stand
the enchantment of letters. Sir Waiter
Scott; and when ask him what he
thinks of the place that our great
book ought TO take among other books
he replies: There ia but one book
and that is the bible" Next | put
upon the stand the most famous
geologist of all time, Hugh Miller, an
cider of In Guthrie's Presby terian
church, in Edinburgh, and Fardday,
and Keppler, and they all testify to
the same thing. They all say the
bible is from God and that the
mightiest influence for good that ever
touched our world is Christianity.
chancellor Kent! What do you think
of the bible?" Answer: ''No other
book ever addressed itself so authori-
tatively and so pathetically to the
Judgment and moral sense of man
kind" Edmund Burke! What
do you think of the bible?" An
swer: 81 have read the bible
morning, noon and night, and have
ever since been the happier and the
better man for such reading" Next
put upon the stand William Z. Glad
stone, the head of the English govern
ment and I hear him saving what he