The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1895-02-07
whom these assertions are expected to

|
convince, remains.
There is nothing in books Of the Bible
we are told, that suggests the idea Of in
SEPARATION; there is no way to prove th'
fact of inspiration of any book and al
the books Of the Bible. It is the way
which we have to prove Christ and Hi
church. The Bible means Christ and thu
Church; Christ and the Church mean the
Bible. The Bible Christ and the Church
stand or fall together. You shall moi
| separate any one book of our Bible from
the whole Bible, nor the whole Bible
| from Christ, nor Christ and the Bible
from Christ's church. They are together
one and the self-same divine dispense
| ton.
eve take the books Of the Bible as
Christ and His church gave them to us;
and on the authority of Christ and His
church we accept the books of the Bible
as an inspired record of divine revela-
ton. Questions Of authorship and dates
we deal with on grounds of historical
criticism upon which we fear not to enter
with the seekers of historic truth, be
they believers or unbelievers. Know us
for what we are and what we contend
for, and the shafts of war will not miss
so widely the mark"
Quoting Mr.. Ingersoll's own language
with reference to the atrocities and
crimes in the Old Testament, alleged to
have been sanctioned by Jehovah, the
archbishop characterizes his statements
as ''perverse readings of texts so obvious
in meaning that misconception of them
is criminal" and continues:
The Bible, the book Of ages and Of
Christian civilization, deserves at least
to be treated in truthfulness. The Bible
unfolds mysteries of heaven, not of
earth.
The Bible is book of religious and
moral Righteousness; it is not book of
human industry, of science, of finance,
of civil government. Is it not the alb
surdity of absurdities to blame it for not
teaching how to cultivate the earth, to
build houses, to weave cloth, to construct
bridges and ships, to paint pictures and
chisel statues? The Bible is not text
book on material progress. Of course,
for materialist and an agnostic there is
nothing higher or better than matter,
and the book which lifts up towards
God and the plane of heavenly life is
to no purpose. But all humanity is not
of earth earthly, and there is room
among men for book whispering to us
lessons Of God and his kingdom. It is
an unworthy conception Of God to i'm
agine that revelation from Him will
bear on mere material matters, for which
nature already furnishes US sufficient
equipment.
The Bible is book of religion and
righteous notwithstanding spiritual
truth, imposing precepts, lifting men
above passion and sin. The light, how
ever, coming from it's successive revela-
tions was progressive in it's effulgence.
Gods revelation was at first as days
early dawn, suiting the weakness of in
tellect and with gradually becoming
brighter as recipient generations were
prepared for warmer and more luminous
rays until full noon day brilliancy was
attained; Gods work in spiritual as in
the natural Life of humanity, was evolu-
tionary. His revealed law was in &C
cordance with mems social condition,
which it was continuously lifting up
ward, without, however, urging it to
sudden and irregular leaps. It is asked,
was not revelation made full and per-
feet at once? The answer is, Gods wis
dom is not of the wisdom of men, fitful,
impatient and narrow in it's bearings.
Eternity belongs to Jehovah, and He
works in it as suits His eternal pur-
poses.
View not the deficiencies, which we
explain from the social conditions of the
Hebrews, but the excellencies of the Old
Testament, which are not explained ex-
cept by the finger of God guiding the
people. How did it happen that small
nation without outside power or fame
surrounded by pagan and corrupt peo-
pie, alone preserved mOnotheism and
the worship of pure altars-alone of all
the nations of the earth? Because they
had the Bible, and Jehovah watched
over them. The records of Gods dis
pensation oftentines goes onward, side
by side, with the doings of men. The
Old Testament is the story of Israel, Of
Israel's God and Israels people, the lat
ter often retreating from the ways of
their God, initiating the Gentiles, dis
obeying their own laws, SHINING, repent
ing, and SHINING again. Care must be
taken when we begin to criticise that
we do not lay to the blame of Jehovah
and His inspired Bible the crimes and
follies of men, of patriarchs and of kings,
which were contrary to Jehovah's will
and to the law and spirit of the Bible.
This is frequent mistake of unbelief.
Quoting from the encyclical of the
pope on the scripture as to supposed. er-
rors of science and history in the Bible
and contradictions between narratives
of the different writer's the speaker said:
Add to these words the fact that the
books of the Bible were written long
ago, in the ages in which the metaphors
and figures of speech are unfamiliar to
US, that these books have passed through
the bands of an untold number of
transcribers and translators, consciously
and unconsciOusly careless in minor mat
tiers; add the fact that the Bible en-
braces all forms of literature. the strict
history, the moral instruction, the allie
CORY and it will be easily seen that care
full study and dispassionate Judgment
are required before sentence can be
passed upon it and it's true purport pro-
claimed.
Coming to the defense of the New
Testament Archbishop Ireland grew in
elOquence as he exclaimed: