The Portland daily press., 1897-05-10
OF BOOK OF JONAH.
DR.. BIanchard's Sermon at Congress
Square Church Yesterday.


Criticism, . yesterday morning. The sub
ject was-'' The Greatness of the Book of
Jonah" The text was taken from Jonah
Ill, 1O-"And God saw their works that
they turned from their evil way, and God
repented of the evil that he had said that
he would do unto them, and he did it
mott The book of Jonah deserves and
should command the reverence and the
earnest study of all thoughtful persons.
1t will repay all the attention which may
be given to it. 1t is silly to dwell on an
incident which is incredible and SO miss
seeing the great truths which this book
was written to teach. 1t is as foolish as
for man on 3 bright, brilliant summer
day to be blind to the beauty of sea and
sky and rocks and shore because dead
fish is seen upon the sands. He who
ridicules the book of Jonah should him
self be ridiculed. 1t is one Of the most
significant and greatest books of all the
Bible. The preacher was, therefore, glad
to speak on The Greatness of the Book of
Jonah. He would consider the story
which the book relates; the revelation
which it makes of it's authors thoughts
concerning the goodness of humanity and
the unity and universal fatherhood of
God
1t was probably written about 400 B. @.
That was the hour when Ezra and Nehe-
miah had made the people of Israel the
people of the book Deuteronomy had
made the people bigoted, intolerant. A
genius had arisen who wished to make
Israel see that other people were dear to
| God beside themselves. He is the UNI
known author of the book Of Jonah. His
aim was great He wished to show that
there is one God reigning over all the
universe, and that while Judgment is his
great attribute, mercy is the greater one.
A rapid recital was here given Of the
points of the story-how Jonah did not
wish to go to Nineveh, because he believed
God would have mercy on the inhabitants
depsite the prophets word of doom-how
he fled towards Tarshish or western
Europe-How the storm arose; how kind
| the sailors were; how Jonah was given to
the sea; how he reached land; how he de-
| livered his word of doom to the Ninehvites
how they repented; how angry Jonah
was; how God taught him by the gourd
the lesson of mercy.
| Some commentators wish to explain
away the fish, but the story can be taken
as it is written. Throughout it's graphic
portraiture, we see the two great con-
I - <,f
humanity-the unity and universal
fatherhood of God.
| The sailors did not wish to abandon
Jonah. They rowed with their might to
outreach the gale. They asked God not to
condemn them for sacrificing Jonah at
his request. The men of Nineveh were
not wholly depraved. They had enough
of the divine within to respond to the
divine call. There was only one ruling
God. One could not escape Him by flying
to Tarshis. He was God of sea and land
and all things. He would punish iniquity.
To punish is just. But he was glad to
win the sinner. His mercy was far more
glorious than his justice. These are the
great truths the book has proclaimed to
| the world.
| We can see then that the higher critics
and the preachers who follow these are
helping men to enjoy the Bible The old
theory that all must be accepted as true
brings perplexity and pain. The new
knowledge enables us to put aside what
offends our sense of right and see the
overreaching truths reached by the great
thinkers. The booksis poem. Its fish
need trouble us no more than the ghost
in Hamlet, the Mephistopheles of Faust,
the Satan of Milton. Its great lessons
concerning the goodness of humanity and
the unity of God and his universal father
hood are what we should heed. Well may
we salute its author as the forerunner of
Jesus and of Paul. Well may we dwell on
the grandeur Of its ideas. Through all
history, men have not believed enough in
the goodness of mankind. They have
hated one another too deeply and too
| long. They could see no good in alien
races. They have been glad to have awful
punishments befall the wicked. Today,
the Greek hates the Turk. He will be
glad to have direst ruin come to Turkish
countries Too many of the educated and
rich despise the ignorant and poor. The
saints in the churches think no doom toe
hard for sinners. They believe they have
all the love of God. They hold that God
cannot justly be merciful to sinners.
They wish to have these receive all OF
their merited punishment against all
these awful facts, the book of Jonah is
noble protest. When, therefore, we con-
slider the far off time in which it ap-
peared and remember how hard, even
now, it is to have men believe in the good
ness of mankind and in the universal
Sove and mercy of God, we can accept the
statements that the. book of Jonah de
serves and should command the reverence
and study of all thoughtful persons-that
| it is one of the most significant and
grandest books of the Bible-that he who
ridicules the book of Jonah should him
self be ridiculed. One can gladly say with
those who have studied it and revere ii