Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-06-14
THE BIBLE AS IT IS.
LEV. DR.. TALMAeE ON THE ExPURGA-
TIoN OF THE SCRIPTURES.

He Shows why the Good Book Needs No
ReconstructiOn-NothIn Can BE Added
Nor Taken From It-An Eloquent Ser
mon on . Timely Topic.
NEW YORK, June 9.-In his sermon
for today Rev. DR.. Talmage deals with
subject that is agitating the entire
Christian church at the present moment
viz, "Expurgation Of the Scriptures. "
The text chosen was, "Let God be true,
but every man liar" (Romans iii, ~.
The Bible needs reconstruction &C.
cording to some inside and outside the
pulpit. 1t is no surprise that the world
bombards the Scriptures, but it is amaz-
ing to find Christian ministers picking
at this in the Bible and denying that
until many good people are left in the
fog about what parts Of the Bible they
ought to believe and what parts reject
The Nervousness Of finding fault with
the Bible at this time is most evident
In our day the Bible is assailed by sour
rility, by Misrepresentation, by infidel
scientists, by all the vice Of earth and
all the venom Of perdition, and at this
particular time even preachers Of the
gospel fall into line Of criticism Of the
word of God. Why, it makes me think
of a ship in a September equinox, the
waves dashing to the top Of the smoke
stack. and the matches fastened down,
and many prophesying the laundering
of the steamer, and at that time some
of the crew with axes and saws go down
into the hold of the ship and they try
to saw of some Of the planks and pry
out some Of the timbers because the tim
Der did not come from the right forest.
It does not seem to me commendable
business for the crew to be helping the
winds and storms outside with their axes
and saws inside. Now, this old gospel
ship, what with the roaring Of earth and
hell around the stem and stern and
mutiny on deck, is having q very rough
voyage. but have noticed that not one
of the timbers has started, and the cap
tain says he will see it through. And l
have noticed that keelson and counter
timber knee are built out Of Lebanon
cedar, and she is going to weather the
gale, but no credit to those who make
mutiny on deck
E1purgation Of the Scriptures.
When see professed Christians in this
particular day finding fault with the
Scriptures, it makes me think Of for
tress terrifcally bombarded, and the men
on the ramparts, instead Of swabblng
out and loading the guns and helping
fetch up the ammunition from the mag
azine, are trying with crowbars to pry
out from the wall certain blocks of stone,
because they did not come from the right
quarry. Oh men ON the ramparts, bet
ter fight back and fight down the com
mon enemy, instead of trying to make
breaches in the WALL
While Ioppose this expurgation Of the
Scriptures, l shall give you my reasons
for such opposition. What" say some
of the theological evolutionists whose
brains have been added by too long
brooding over them by Darwin and
Spencer, "you don't now really believe
all the story of the garden Of Eden, do
your" Yes, as much as believe there
were roses in my garden last summer.
But" say they, "you don't really
believe that the sun and moon stood
still?" Yes, and if had strength enough
to create a sun and moon l could make
them stand still or cause the refraction
of the suns rays so it would appear to
stand still. But" they say, you
don't really believe that the whale swal-
lowed Jonah?" Yes, and if l were
strong enough to make a whale could
have made very easy ingress for the re-
fractory prophet, leaving to evolution to
eject him if he were an unworthy ten
ant but, j" say they, "you don { really
believe that the water was turned into
wine?" Yes, just as easily as water now
is often turned into wine with an ad-
mixture Of strychnine and logwood
But" say they, "you don't really be-
lieve that Samson slew 1000 with the
iaw bone Of an ass?' Yes, and l think
that the man who in this day assaults
the Bible is welding the same weapon
There is nothing in the Bible that
staggers me. There are many things L
do not understand, do not pretend to
understand, never shall in this world
understand. But that would be very
Door God who could be fully understood
by the human. That would be a very
small Infinite that can be measured by
the finite You must not expect TO weigh
the thunderbolts of Omnipotence i'll an
apothecary's balances. Starting with
the idea that God can do anything, and
that he was present at the beginning,
and that he is present now, there is
nothing in the holy Scriptures to arouse
skepticism in my heart. Here l stand a
fossil Of the ages, dug up from the ter
tiary formation, fallen off the shelf OF
an antiquarian, man in the latter part
Of the glorious nineteenth century be-
iieving in awhole Bible from lid to lid
Divinely Protected.
I am opposed to the expurgation OF
the Scriptures in the first place, because
; the Bible in its present shape has been
20 miraculously preserved Fifteen hun
ired years after Herodotus wrote his
history, there was only one manuscript
,opy Of it. Twelve hundred years after
Plato wrote his book, there was only one
manuscript copy of it. God was so care
Iul TO have us have the Bible in just the
right shape that we have so manuscript
copies Of the New Testament thousand
yesrs old, and some Of then 800 years
DID. This book handed down from the
} sime Of Christ, or just after the time OF
Christ. by the hand of such men as ORR
gen in the second century and Tertullian
r in the third century, and by men of diff
, Ierent ages who died for their principles.
The three best copies Of the New Testa,
ment in manuscript in the possession OF
the three great churches-the Protestant
J shurch Of England, the Greek church OF
st. Petersburg and the Romish church OF
+ Italy.
! It is plain matter Of history that