Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-06-14

the Old Testament thousands Of years
ago. Thirty-nine now. Twenty-seven
books Of the New Testament 900 years
ago. Twenty-seven books Of the New
Testament now. Marcion, for wicked
ness, was turned out Of the church in
the second century, and in his assault
on the Bible and Christianity he incl
dentally gives catalogue Of the books
of the Bible-that catalogue correspond
ing exactly with ours-testimony given
By the enemy Of the Bible and the enc
my of Christianity. The catalogue now
just like the catalogue then. Assaulted
and spit on and torn to pieces and
burned, yet adhering. The book today,
in 300 languages, confronting four-ffths
Of the human race in their own tongue.
Four hundred million copies Of it in ex-
istence. Does not that look as il this
book had been divinely protected, as if
God had guarded it all through the cen
turies?
Book EpidemIcs.
Is it not an argument plain enough to
every honest man and every honest
woman that a book divinely protected
and in this shape is in the very shape
that God wants it2 1t pleases God and
ought to please us. The epidemics which
have swept thousands Of other books in
TO the sepulcher of forgetfulness have
only Frightened the fame Of this There
is not one book out Of /, 900 that lives five
years. Any publisher will tell you that.
There will not be more than one book out
Of &c, 900 that will live a century. Yet
here is a book, much Of it 1900 years
old and much Of it 1000 years old and
with more rebound and residence and
strength in it than when the book was
first put upon parchment or papyrus.
This book saw the cradle Of all other
books, and it will see their graves. Would
you not think that an old book like
this, some Of it 40 centuries old, would
come along hobbling with age and on
crutches? Instead of that, more potent
than any other book of the time. More
copies of it printed in the last ten years
than Of any other book-Walter Scott's
Waverley Novels, Macaulay's History
of England" Disraeii's "Endymion, "
the works of Tennyson and Longfellow,
and all the popular books Of our time
having no such sale in the last ten years
as this old worn out book Do you know
what struggle a book has in order to
get through one century or two centuriesg
Some old books, during fire in serag-
lio Of COnstantinople, were thrown into
the street. A man without any educa-
ton picked up one of those books, read
it. and did not see the value Of it. A
scholar looked over his shoulder and
saw it was the first and second decades
Of Livy, and he offered the man large
reward if he would bring the books to
his study, but in the excitement Of the
fire the two parted, and the first and
second decades Of Liyy were forever lost.
Pliny wrote 20 books Of history. All
lost. The most Of Menander's writings
lost. Of 1870 comedies Of PlautuS, all
gone but 20. Euripides wrote 100
dramas. all gone but 10. Eschlyus
wrote 100 dramas, all gone but seven.
Varro wrote the laborious biographies OF
700 Romans, not fragment left. Quin-
tilian wrote his favorite book on the cor
ruption Of eloquence, all lost. Thirty
books Of Tacitus lost. Dion Cassius
wrote so books, only 20 remain. Berosi-
u.s. history all lost.
Attempts to Add to the Bible.
Nearly all the old books are mummi-
fed and are lying in the tombs OF old
libraries, and perhaps once in 20 years
some man comes along and picks up one
of them and blows the dust off and
opens it and finds it the book he does
not want. But this old book, much OF
it 40 centuries old, stands today more
discussed than any other book, and 1t
challenges the admiration Of all the
good and the spite, and the venom, and
the animosity, and the hypercriticism
of earth and hell appeal to your COM
mon sense if book so diyinely guarded
and protected in its present shape must
not be in just the way that God wants
it to come to us, and if it pleases God
ought it not to please us?
Not only have all the attempts 10 de-
tract from the book failed, but all the
attempts to add to it. Many attempts
were made to add the apochryphal books
to the Old Testament The council OF
Trent, the synod Of Jerusalem, the bish-
ops of Hippo, all decided that the apoch-
ryphal 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 Chris
tian man that today will put the book
of Maccabees or the book of Judith be-
side the book Of Isaiah or Romans
Then a great many said, 1--WE must
have books added TO the New Testa-
ment," and there were epistles and gos-
pels and apocalypses written and added
to the New Testament, but they have
all fallen out. You cannot add any
thing. You cannot subtract anything.
Divinely protected book in the present
shane. Let no man dare to lay his hands
on IL WIN t06 lntCutAOf Va ?
from the book or casting out any OF
these holy pages.
Besides that, am opposed to this ex-
purgation of the Scriptures because II
the attempt were successful, it would be
the annihilation Of the Bible. lnfdel
Qeologists would say, '"Out with the
book. Of Genesis" infdel astronomers
would say, "Out 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, "Out with all those wonderful sto-
ries in the Old and New Testament; ,
and some would say, "Out with the
book of Revelation" and others would
say, "Out with the entire Pentateuch,
and the work would 90 on until ther'
would not be enough Of the Bible left +
be worth as much as last years almanac
The cxpurgation Of the Scriptures mean
their humiliation.
The Family Bible.
am also opposed to this proposed ex
purgation Of the Scriptures FOR the fac
l.. 49, n