The Penn's Grove record., 1895-06-14

Il ~ Ont Va ASS NOhACNAOS "a
| all gone but twenty. Euripides wrote 100
dramas, all gone but nineteen. Rschiyus
wrote 100 dramas, all gone but seven. Varrc
| wrote the laborious biographies Of 700 Ro-
mans, not q fragment left. Quintillan wrote
bis ~favorite book on the corruption Of elo-
quence, all lost. Thirty books Of Tactitus
lost. Dion Cassius wrote eighty books, only
twenty remain. Berosius's history all lost.
Nearly all the old books are mummifed
and ARE lying in the tombs Of old libraries,
and perhaps once In twenty years some man
eomeS along and picks up one OF them and
blows the dust off n opens 1t and finds II
The book he does not want. But this old
book. much OF 1t forty centuries old. stands
To-day more discussed h any other book,
and 1t challenges the admiration OF all the
good and the spite and the venom, and the
luminosity, and the hypercriticism Of earth
and hell. / appeal to your common sense II
"a book so divinely guarded and protected in
Its present shape must not be in just the way
that God wants 1t to come to us, and II il
pleases God ought it not to please us2
Not only have all the attempts to detract
from the book failed, but all the attempts to
add to 1t. Many attempts were made to add
the apochryphal books to the Old Testament.
The council of Trent, thesynod OF Jerusalem,
the bishops OF Hippo, all decided that the
Rpochryhal books must be added to the Old
Testament. "They must stay in" said those
learned men, but they staid out. There is
not an intelligent Christian man that to-day
will put the look Of Maccabees or the book
OF Judith beside the book OF Isaiah OF
Romans. Then a great many said, 1--WE
must have books added to the New Testa-
ment," and there were epistles and Cos
pels and apocalypses written and added
10 the New Testament, but they have all
fallen out. You cannot add anything. You
cannot substract anything. Divinely pro-
tected book In h present shape. Let no
man dare to lay his hands on 1t with the In
iention Of detracting from the book or cast
ng out any of these holy pages.
Besides that / am opposed to this expurga.
Hon of the Scriptures because II the attempt
were successful, it would be the annihilation
Of the Bible. fnadel biologists would say,
Tout with the Book of Genesis inidel as
tronomers would say, tout with the Book
Of joshua people who do not believe in
the atoning sacrifice would say, "Out with
the Book Of Leviticus;" people who do not
believe In the miracles would say, SOU with
all those wonderful stories In the Old and
New Testament and some would say,
"Out with the Book Of Revelation" and
others would say, "Out with the entire PEN
tateuch," and the work would go on until
there would not be enough of the Bible left
TO be worth as much as last years almanac.
The expurgation Of the Scriptures means
heir annihilation.
I I'm also opposed to this proposed expur-
cation Of the Scriptures for the fact that In
proportion as the people become self-sacri-
hcing and good and holy and consecrated,
they like the book as it Is. ] have yet to find
\ man or a woman distinguished for SELF
.acrifice, for conservation to God, for holt
ness OF fife, who wants the Bible changed.
Many of US have inherited family Bibles.
Those Bibles were In use twenty, forty, hfty,
perhaps 100 years in the generations. To-
lay take down those family Bibles, and find
,ut If there are n chapters which have
been erased by lead pencil or pen, and II in
any margins you can find the words, ''This
,hapter not fit to read" There has been
plenty of opportunity during the last halt
century privately to e~xpurgate the Bible.
Do you know any Ease OF such expurgatton2
Did not your grandfather give 1t to your
.ather, and did not your father give it to
rou2
Besides that I am opposed to the e1
yurgation of the Scriptures, because the So
jailed indelicacies and cruelties of the Bible
a v demonstrated no evil result. A cruel
book will produce cruelty. An unclean book
will produce ~uncleanness. Fetch me q VIC
I'm. Out OF all Christendom and out Of all
he ages fetch me a victim whose heart has
,een hardened to cruelty OF whose life has
,een made impure by this book. Show me
me. One OF the best families I ever knew
II, for thirty or forty years, morning and
vening, had all the members gathered to-
| yether, and the servants of the household,
ind the strangers that happened to be within
he ~gates-twfce a day, without leaving out
, chapter or q verse;, they read this holy
book, morning by morning, night by night.
| Not only the older children, but the little
shild who could Just spell her way through
| The verse while her mother helped her, the
| ather beginning and reading one verse and
hen all the members Of the family In turn
| reading a verse. The father maintained his
| integrity, the mother maintained her integ-
rity, the sons grew up and entered pro-
| LESSONS and commercial life, adjoining every
| ,phere In the life in which they lived, and
he daughters went into families where
Christ was honored, and all that was good
| and pure and righteous reigned perpetually.
For thirty years that family endured the
| scriptures. Not n Of them ruined by
hem.
Now, II you will tell me OF q family where
he Bible has been read twice a day for thirty
| years, and the children have been brought
Up In that habit, and the father went to
| ruin, and the mother went to ruin, and the
| IONS and daughters were destroyed by IT.
I you will tell me Of one such incident, !
| will throw away my Bible or I will doubt
| Jour veracity. / tellyou IL a man Is shocked
| With what he calls the indelicacies Of the
| word Of God he is p~rurient in his taste and
Imagination. II a man cannot read Solo
pon's Song without impure suggestion, he
: either in hfsHeart or in his life a libertine.
The Old Testament description OF wicked
less, ~uneleanness of all sorts, IL
purposely and righteously a disgust
hg account, instead Of the Byronic
md the Partisan vernacular, which makes
Din attractive instead OF appalling. When
hose old prophets point you to a lazaretto,
| Fou understand 1t is a lazaretto. When a
| nan having begun to do right falls back into
Eickedness and gives up his integrity, the
Bible does not say be was overcome by the
iascinations Of the festive board, or that he
surrendered to convivialities, or that he be
| ,ame a little fast In his habits. I will tell
rou what the Bible says, '1he dog is turned
o his own yomit again andthe SOW that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire." Nc
gliding Of iniquity. No garlands on adeath's
lead. No pounding away with a silver NAL.
ct at iniquty when 1t needs an iron 5ledge
tammer.
I can easily understand how people brood.
ng over the description Of uncleanness In
he Bible may get morbid In mind until they
ire as full Of 1t as the wings, and the beak,
ind the nostril, and The claw OF a buzzard
Ire full Of the odors OF a carcass, but whai
8 wanted Is not that the Bible be disinfect-
I'd, but that you, the critic, have your mind
md heart washed with carbolic acid.
l tell you at this point in my discourse
mat a man who does not like this book, and
who is critical as to its contents, and who Il
Knocked and outraged with its descriptions
has never been soundly converted. The lay
ing on OF the hands of presbytery or epis
sopacy does not always change a mani
Heart, and men sometimes get into the pull
pit. as well as into the pew, never having
been changed radically by the sovereign
grace OF God. Get your heart right and the
bible will be right. The trouble is nen'i
natures are not brought into harmony witt
The word of God. All, my friends. expurga
ton OF the heart is what Is wanted!
Frances new cruiser, lie Friant
has been declared to be almost an ides
wal vessel.