The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-04-29
DIR. TYLER ON TIE BIBLE
MS TIEWs <B0Ur LITER<Rr FEz-
JURES or the BoOK.
kupcrIor TO Homer, virgil or Shakespeare.
TIA EIevatiBg and Beneficial Influences.
Its Usique Character.

fhfiT fikhtt-lISt anniversary heid RDfit
2s.h. az the First Presbyterian church. in
this city:
Mir. Charles \. Dana. the brilliant edi-
cor OF the New York "Sun." affirmed
last autumn in public address that
for the journalist there Is no book like
the Bible. AZ that moment he was adj
dressing candidates FOR the journalistic
profession. and spoke OF the Holy Scrip
lures not as strictly religious literature,
but as constituting a manual OF utility.
in a controversy the Bible contains the
right answer. II always sets up the
right principle. il always pleads for the
tight policy.
Mir. William +. stead editor OF the
Review Of Reviews" declares that he
considers himself successful Just as far
as he Is able TO incorporate the Bible
in his journal. "The newspaper" he
foys, "is a very poor substitute for the
Bible even in our attempt to solve the
problems OF the day"
When Mr. Dana testified TO the unique
character OF the Bible and It's peerless
value To Journalists. he was delivering
an oxhortation TO young men concerning
authors TO be read. lie named IN this
connection Charming. Hawthorne, Milton,
Matthew Arnold. Thomas Carlyle ana
Shakspearc. lie cited as a piece of writ
ing 10 be studied the Constitution OF the
limited States. but ne did not hesitate to
place Moses and Isaiah and Paul, above
the literary celebrities whom he named.
Merely as a piece Of literary work, the
Sermon on the Mount stands infinitely
above the Constitution of the United
states.
The Bible. as a whole, outranks as lit
erature any volume Of literature known
in the world AS literature the Bible is
absolutely unique Its history, It's poetry,
SIS prophecy. its parallels. its aphorisms,
SIS ethical codes. are unrivalled in the
literature Of the ages.
Charles Reade afiirms that the charac-
GERS in Scripture are a literary marvel.
Run over the list of Bible characters and
see IL this be not true. Consider, If you
please, righteous Abel patient Moab,
spiritual Abraham self-conscious Lot,
peaceful Isaac, bargaining Jacob. talent
ed Joseph. meek Moses, eloquent Aaron,
persistent Joshua, energetic Caleb. self
seeking Gideon, playful Sampson, undis-
ciplined Saul, friendly Jonothan, pious
David. willy J0ab, willfui Absalom, self
satisfied Solomon. lonely Elijah, homely
ELISHA fretful Jonah, hopeful Isaiah, and
faithful Daniel.
Run over the names Of some OF the
chief women of the Bible. In the Ola
Testament. we have Sarah. the mother
of the faithful; Rebecca, who may be
characterized as the beautiful, but de-
ceptive wife; Rachel the affecuonate and
devoted wife Of Jacob: Miriam, the pa
triotc old maid; Ruth, the young WIDOW
Of Moab; Deborah, the strong-minded
woman; Jezebel. the heather queen OF
an Israelitish king; and Esther, the Is
raelihsh queen OF heatheh KIDS ho'
to mention others.
in the New Testament. there are Eliza
beth, the mother Of John the baptist
Mary, the mother Of the Christ child
Anna, the last prophecies Of the OLD as
pensauon; Herodias, the mother or the
dancing girl; Joanna, the wife OF Herod
steward: the woman Of Canaan, who be-
cause Of her persistent intercession ior
her daughter. may well be characterlz-
ed as a heroine Of faith; the woman OF
Samaria whom the Master met at ia
cob's well; the daughter of Jairus, Whom
Jesus restored TO life; Dorcas, the wo-
man full Of good works and aims deeds
Sapphire, the woman who lied, the WiIe
of Annanias; and without attempting TO
exhaust the list, Lydia, the enterprising
business woman and the first convert
20 Christianity in Europe.
Jonah is TO ms a real character. lie
lives and moves and has a. being on H'
sacred page TO such an extent thdt W.
almost feel as If we would recognize
and vet the presentation Of this charac-
ter is IN forty-eight verses. or l,S2S Eng
lish words i am not surprised That MT
Reade should affirm that Jonah is The
most beautiful story ever written IN sc
small compass. .,
Two women. named Mary and Marina
are mentioned by two writer's IN the
New Testament, Luke and John. Luxe
gives five. and John, fourteen verses 10
Mary and Martha. but few as are the
words used in describing these women
fheir characters stand out before us az
obsolutelv perfect. that is 10 say as
81 ',gon,en Of different types. Mr..
Raada does not, therefore, exaggerate
when ne says that the characters III
Scripture are a literary marvel Com
paro. n YOU will. the two books OF sam
mel with the writings OF Homer ana ' II
al Compare the characters described
hv the unknown writer Of the books OF
Samuel with the characters described by
hlsh dignitaries in the republic OF letters
like Homer and Virgil.
The characters Of the Bible written In
the East, live forever In the west. WIFI
Ten in one province. they pervade the
world. Penned in rude times. they are
priced more and more as CIVILIZATION du'
vances Products OF antiquity, they come
home 20 the business and bosoms or men
and women. =.
sh.kspearr translated into French Is
not Shakspeare. Translated into Chinese
his Immortal dramas are simply nothing
but the Bible translated into any IAN
euare on the globe, throbs with Ire.
The Bible is unique in that 1t eXcites
thought. Investigation, criticism, as no
other book in the world. Very much Il
said I'm our time about the higher crll'
tc,sm." Have you ever thought OF the
remarkable fact that the higher critics
epent their time in an examination ano
discussion Of sixty-six little inssnlhcaii'
oamDhlets. the sacred literature Of a small
Isolated. scattered. and prosecuted 1ation ,
which In numbers is positively insignlfl-
can't IN comparison with the vast mui'
ti,udes who accept the voiumnious sa'
,red hooks Of the orient? Why is II mat
euch attention is given 20 Bible literature
and so little 10 the mighty mass OK AS
SYRIAN Babylonian, Chinese, lindoo' ana
Thibetlan sacred literature? Why Is u
that the writings Of Moses and Isaiah
are scanned so closely, while the WITT
inrs Of Mohammcd opd ConfuciuS are
passed by so lightly? Why IS II tnat the
teachings OF Jesus and Paul are exam
ined again and again microscopicaliy Dy
the learned men OF the world, while the
teachings of Buddha and Zoroast4r ex-
cite but little interest and that languldY
Why IS II that this sacred Bible literature
has been translated by Its disciples into
an the languages OF the earth, and Is
HH.Ilf N