The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-29

| sive TRANSACTIONS we have named were
made by devout scholars of the Church of
England, while the last two-the Author
lied and Revised Versions-were directly
made under the appointment of the
Church itself When we read. therefore
the history of that English Bible which
is now exercising such an irresistible re-
| ligious influence over the English-speak-
! ing nations of the world, and see how,
from beginning to end, it was exclusively
due to the English Church itself, can we
marvel that belief in the Scriptures, las
containing all things necessary to saliva
| iton, and as the Rule and Ultimate Stan
dard of Faith" has been set forth by the
last Lambeth Conference as one of the
| four essential conditions for the reunion
| Of ChristendOm?
| Many as arc the points of similarity be-
! tween the Anglican communion of today
and the early Church Of apostolic times,
| the Church of the post-apostollc age, the
Church in the times of Augustine and
Chrysostom, Jerome and Athanasius,
there is none more marked or more char
acteristic of the continuity OF Churchly
thought than this English and American
love and reverence for the Bible. View
the actual conditions as they exist at the
present moment. Thirty or forty years
ago, and within the memory of many OF
us, the OFT repeated and ignorant charge
was hurled against our Church that we
placed the Prayer book above the Bible
Itself while, as a matter of fact, there is
no other Church today, on the whole face
OF the earth, which enjoins by rule, upon
All the people, so constant perusal of
Holy Scripture.
Three fourths of the Prayer Book itself
are In the exact words of the Bible. and
IN Its order for daily Morning and Even
ing Prayer as followed by parish churches
in public services, or by individuals in
private, the Old Testament will be read
through once, the New Testament twice,
and the Book of Psalms twelve times
every year. For those who have not the
time or the inclination to use the whole
of the daily Morning and Evening Prayer
there is table of lessons in the begin
ming of the Prayer Book whereby they
may read the four daily chapters of the
Bible privately and at home. In addition
to this at the. very beginning of the Chris
DIR. Liddon well said, n light appropriate
ly be called 'fBible Sunday" and if any
one is disposed to charge the Church of
england with being adverse to the trans
lation and reading of the Bible in Re-
formation times we would point in an
swer to that beautiful collect set in her
own Prayer Book for the Second Sunday
in Advent: blessed Lord, who has
caused all Holy Scriptures to be written
for our learning, grant that we may {.
|. read, mark, learn and inwardly di-
gest them" The significance of this col
lect becomes all the greater when we re-
member that it was in the first Prayer
Book Of Edward vi. in 1549.
| The same truth comes out even with
| greater prominence when we turn to the
| Ordination Services of the Prayer Book.
In one respect, these are the most signifi-
can't of all, for it is at these times that
| the Church commits to chosen and tried
men the awful responsibility of being
| her teachers in things pertaining to God.
In the Ordination Of Deacons, the ques-
| tions are asked of the person to be Or
dained: 'tDo you firmly believe all the
canonical Scriptures of the Old and New
| Testaments, and will you diligently read
the same to the people?' And after the
ordination a copy Of the New Testament
is placed in his hand, with the charge to
read the Gospel in the Church of God.
emphasis still is laid upon the belief in
Holy Scriptures as containing all doc
| trines necessary to salvation.
| 1t is true that some of the greatest
| scholars among the Higher Critics of
| the present day are to be found in the
ranks of the clergy of the Church of Eng
| land; but there is marked difference
between these higher critics of the Eng
lish Church and those of Germany, Hol-
land and elsewhere. The kind of Higher
Criticism which emphasizes the value OF
the historic method in studying the Scrip.
lures; which looks upon the ancient
prophets of Israel as men who, filled with
the Holy Ghost, phophesied primarily OF
the burning issues of their own times,
and applied to these issues those universal
principles of Gospel truth which found
a deeper fulflment in Messianic days, is
a kind of criticism which will ultimately
increase our love for the Bible, and make
it more than ever the inspired Word OF
God; while the other and more destruc-
tive form of criticism, which jumps at
conclusions, dissolving historical facts
into legends and ancient Biblical charac-
tiers into myths, will bring about exactly
the opposite effect. And these two effects
are even now manifesting themselves in
contemporaneous Christian history.