The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-10-24
GOOD STYLE.
WHERE TO FIND =.
The Bible as Literature.
Commercioi A ppeoi.

taire and his contemp 0rarles, and i
Just az fruitful to-day a then. Social
and race and financial and diplomatic
problems present Themselves, then pass
but for centuries there has not been
time when the scripture was not a
theme for religionlst and agno-tlc
Balfour and Iagersoll, Arnold and
Gladstone are summing their views con
tinually with regard to It's divine origin
Recently Mr.. Dana Of the New York
Sun referred to 1t as a stOrehouse OF
knowledge, apt phrase etc, and ADVISED
Young men to search 1t thoroughly
Still more recently the Nation, com
menting on the Bible a. literature,
declares that it is not receiving the
attention it should have in current
educational methods, whether OF the
family, the Sunday-school or the col
lege. and asserts truthfully that this
neglect is lamentabe. Says the
Nation
One difficulty, it must be confessed,
lies in general conditions as much as
in anything peculiar to the Bible.
That book we do not carry in our mlads
any more as familiar friend, but
neither do we carry any book. We
have no memories any more we have
ID tho ms ado
between an intimate knowledge OF the
Bible and an intimate knowledge OF
the classics. the latter would be found
to have lamentablv decayed as much as
the other. The Bible Is thus suffering
in good company. II YOU have good
concordance, what more DO you need
In an age that Goes not care to know a
thing, but only to know where YOU can
find it, But there are, of course, spe-
clal reasons why the Bible has ceased
to be the essential part Of mental fur
niture that it was once to all English
speaking men and women. One OF
them and a most powerful one, IS the
almost complete turnin. oyer OF Bib
lical instruction to the Sunday school,
ard its almost complete disappearance,
even in Christian families, from the
old place IN daily reading and regular
memorizing. We say nothing here Of
the failure to teach the body OF we'll
ascertained truth about the Bible, its
history and manner ot composition.
That is scandalOus thing morally but
it has little to do with the literary APP
probation OF the Bible. What we do
say. however, is that the broken, hap
hazard, come-and-go methods OF Bible
teaching in Sunday schools are as sue
cessiul as If they were designed With
in DESTROYING all rational appreciation
of the Bible as literature, and in making
il go-lucky collection of gold
en- texts" and strange and disconnected
promises and threatenlngs and morall-
ties, without form and void.
The question arises, how much better
will the purely literary method of Bible
study succeed-succeed, we mean. in
storing the mind with the felicltes
and piquancles and majesty OF Bible
attention with the details Of 2i!.iical
narrative and aliegory and PASTORAL and
ing if it Will succeed any better. The
charm ana power of the Bible, rs liter
ature seem to evade the mature and
prcoccupied mind that approaches il
late and purely on the literary side
The preoccupleN associations of child
hood, the familiarity with sounding
phrases before they are understood
the play Of young Imagination anC
even OF superstition about the sacred
page-all these things, Joined with
daily repetition and use of the ricl
English of King James version and
sustained acquaintance with Orienta
t.ope and metaphor. parable and vision
seem necessary to the strongest an(
most enduring grasp Of the Bible mere
~ as literature. One can not imagine
Rusllin, for example. with his latcl
.cas about the Bible. getting from i
In maturity what he got at his mother
knee. There Is a certain disilluSiOn
ment, which is a literary loss even if i
Is a critical gain, that comes from
studying the Bible III too dry a hight 0
reason. The rugged old Hehraisln.
lose something Of thcircraggv graadeu
when We really come 10 see what the,
mean II we have learned to low,
them, even ignorantly, III our youth
we resent their tein@ made too intelli
gible and unimaginatlve to our man
hood Thus, Matthew Arnold wa
inrcr>ei at the Revised Version. indie
fenSible aS Was his anger on critica
grounds. largely because 1t made hayo,
with some OF the Impressive bat puzzle
headed phrases Of King James and tn,
PRAYER book Version that had the un
d,in- charm o. y,3altlfnl association