Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-15
The Bound Bible.

Friend OF Ours)
The day Is past for parts or the OhIis
| tian household TO consign one another 10
eternal perdition. and fight, like sancti-
! fed devils. for dogmas that they do not
and cannot exactly understand; the great
er the confusion the fercer the fighting
| That sort Of thing is now antiquated.
| WI thick and thrang, both loud and iang'
wv logic and wi Scripture,
They raised din that in the end
Had like to proved rupture.
Now. each man is allowed to sit under
his own intellectual and theological vine
and fig tree and enjoy himself his own
way. without let, hindrance, or inter-
ference. Confessions of faith, disciplines'
articles OF religion. and missals are 10 De
found under the same roof or readily sup
piled on order by any book-dealer, peace
fully One apostolic creed serves the
masses.
Moreover, versions OF the Holy Scrip
lures, Of different authorities, are to be
found. and bound Bibles. some with the
apochryphal writings and some without
them. So, also, we have not only King
'James's version, but the lutest revision
published IN single and separate books;
they go along by themselves.
1t marks a great increase Of confidence
In the divineness of Biblical writings
that men are willing to let them 80
among other books on their own merits
and by their own truth 20 accomplish
that for which they were semitic wit
the healing Of the nations, the restora-
to &c
privileges on their charter and sacred
seal. or TO let men go to Heaven or else
where TO suit themselves. Superstition
has given way to intelligent reverence;
living takes the place Of logic. and God s
Word, cleaning with its own light, ana
animated by His spirit. gently and loving
~ knocks at every heart, and nowhere
fails of some response or needing.
The burning bush of Moses is a type
of the bound Bible as it stands before the
world. Whether II be King Jamess YER
sion as we have it, or the latest revision.
or the Douay version with the Apochry-
pha, IT shines with the light Of God. The
life that it inspires is its guarantee and
assurance. The truth that 1T contains is
not true and revered because 1t is found
in the Bible, but the Bible is to be re-
vered and honored because Of the truth
ii contains, and because Of its wonderful
teachings and life-giving power And as
the bush was OF earthly material which
remained. though the fire from Heaven
filed it, 40 the material and human words
and histories of the Holy Scriptures, from
the heart and mind and memory of men,
| stand with their human material whole
and unconsumed, while they are all
afame with the spirit and light of God
| The mortal bush burns with the divine
! and immortal fire, and the order speaks
| TO the conscience: Thou shalt honor My
Holy Name and Word. And therefore,
| we must approach II with all reverence.
| Its place and natural surroundings are
| holy
| But the old defences and mysteries that
| were once thought necessary to establish
| its dlvineness are no longer in order. God
| Himself has taken our form and moved
| among us familiar as Emmanuel, and so
| His Holy Word is the best-knOwn guest
| in every pious household; and the bread
| broken iTno pieces, is distributed. and
| feeds the multitudes-never fails TO sus-
tain the soul that hungers and th,sts
| for truth.
While. our race was gradually being en-
| lightened and walked up-while books We're
very scarce and intercourse ditiicultithe
people were purblind they saw men as
mired and feared the learned and those
more or less. is conscious OF his high
birth and owns the bound Bible. lnhdels
| and Anarchists, as we'll as priests and
ministers of God, have made men 10
know their high and inalenable privi-
| leges. and they are asserting them and
making things conform thereto.
At first the books or the Bible came
forth one by one. They were gathered
and preserved in one sacred canon-a
strange, mysterious volume the charter
and testimony of mans divine dignity,
the assertion of the one God. an altar,
l'and a pillar. The sQld Testament was for
man. the foundation on which the ever
lasting temple Of psorifed humanity was
20 be built. 1t was represented by the
sacred ark that kept the tasles Of the
Ten Commandments, the basis OF all civil
cation. and the rod of Aarsn that budded
| typical Of the Branch, the Messiah and
the pot Of mama OF the bread that was
20 come down from Heaven. The ola
Testament came into being all fun Of
buds and beginnings Of light. of thought
Of prophecy. Of hope, Of promise-the
rough draft OF the coming kingdom, full
OF divine. concealed treasures and bless
ings. The books OF the New Testament
came as beams from the risen sun OF
| righteousness, the mirror OF God with us,
the efllorescence OF all buds. the compile
ton OF all beginnings, the high. eternal
day; the realization Of all ideals: the
fulnlment OF prophecy and promise: the
New jerusalem LEI down from Heaven;
the capstone OF the pyramid OF human
history. The New Testament was con-
cealed In the old; the Old Testament is
revealed In the new. The bound Bible is
the whole story OF redeemed humanity
OF the evolution OF the kingdom of God
IL stands for and Is all identified with
the Messiah, going forth copQuering ana