The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-06
DIR. sTEELE's FORcIBLE SERMON.
The Bible the Greatest of All Books
and Its Powerful influence.

The Bible the Greatest of All Books
ana Its Powerful influence.
Rev S. A. Steele D. D.. general secre-
tary of the Epworth League delighted a
large congregation at Trinity church last
night with a sermon of deep thought, but
graceful diction and delightful rhetoric
His text was taken from Psalms xix, 7,
THE law of the Lord is perfect, con-
verting the SOUL the testimony of the Lord
is sure, making the wise simple"
He spoke of the different meaning of the
word law as used by the writer of Psalms,
and the Interpretation of it to-day The
law Of God, he said, is perfect in force, in
its nature, in method, in results and as a
revelation of the word of God. Other reli-
giOus books contain more or less truth but
the Bible oVershadows them all and all
other systems of religious thought sink
into insignificance when compared with
the law of the Lord All other forms of
religion rest solely on human reason. The
osophy, theophany transcendental mani
festations, all are huge metaphysical fic-
lions, which will never stand the test of
reason, but the Bible is history of the
growth and actions of a people
The miracles of the Bible were rational
demonstrations of spiritual will and I'M
like those, therefore, of the pagan and other
religions. The greatest miracle of all is
the conception of the life and character of
Jesus Christ. Every feature places the
Bible above them all. We can look down
on mysticism, astrology, or ancient theos-
ophies, for we are ON a glorious summit.
Here are found ineXhaustible foundations
of truth. Here and here alone DO we find
an eternal life, leading to everlasting bliss
in the bosom of the living God
The divinity OF the Bible rests on several
foundations. 1t satisfies the deepest needs
of the human soul, and when criticism has
said its last word about il, We shall still
have to turn to the Bible to find the way
to God 1t reVerses mans downward
course and lifts him up to God. What en-
chanting knowledge, what visions, what
prospects, what splendors, what glories
are revealed TO US in the law of the LORD.
The divinity of the Bible must not lead
US to forget that ii is an intensely hui
man book. Gods revelations came to US
through men. Men themselves are liv-
ing Bibles. 1t is through them that
divinity and the divine law is revealed to
others. The men Of the Bible had their
faults, and they are recorded there; but
they were men of great mind and charac-
ter, and through them was shown the
works Of God
His description Of the works of Biblical
turing and rhetorical figure The force
given to their writings by these Bible men
is a powerful and lasting one. he said
The law of the Lord affords adequate sat
isfaction for the deep spiritual hunger Of
the human heart. The law of the Lord fills
US fun OF glory and of God Philosophy
nor science can ever satisfy the human
heart.
The law of the Lord is perfect because It
contains the force that will regenerate
the world. The Bible is the great con-
structve force in human history. His
tory, recent writer said, is the core of
the universe. We live in a remarkable
age. Remarkable changes are in progress
in all nations, and the social status of
many countries is undergoing a revolu-
ton All of this agitation means progress.
1t is the effort of the universal human
mind to break the shackles that bind the
race to-day. The oppressed people OF every
cline feel a desire for better things. De-
mocracy is triumphant in philosophy, sci
ence. law and religion. II is not the be-
ginning Of the millennium but of the age
that is to lead us up to it. The millennium
Is yet far away in the future But this
conflict is that which will bring the proph-
ecy Of a perfect humanity to pass
The religion people profess Is the most
important fact about them. When we
| seek the cause for all these upheavals. all
T these changes in foreign lands, we are
told that IL is western civilization. There
Is no question about 1t, the Bible has
made western civilization what it is to-