The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-04-30
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
THE WORLDS NoBLEsT BOOK WILL
RICHLY REPAY CAREFUL STUDY.
By the Rev. Henry II. Rose. ID. ID, Pas
tor of the Elm-Street UNIVERSAL
list Church, Auburn, Me.
search the Scriptures. John V. 50.

an editor of the New York Sun, gave this
advice TO the students: "As to what books
you should read. the most Indispensable.
useful and effective is the Bible" There is
no book whose style is more suggestive and
more instructive, none from which you can
learn more directly that sublime simplicity
which never exaggerates, which recounts
the greatest event with soemnity, but
without sentimentality or affectation; none
which you open with such confidence and
lay down with such reverence; there is no
book like the Bible"
Often is ii spoken Of as 'the noblest book
in the world" and with reason. Considered
simply as literature, it is easily above all
other writings. Look at its style. Where can
you find its superior? Where is its equal?
Take the diction. Even in the English
translation, how simple, accurate and beau
tiful In the original Hebrew and Greek.
how rich and melodious, What majesty of
conception and utterace in that psalm
where the psalmst considers the heavens
the work of Gods fingers! What sylvan
music ripples through that poem which
sings of God as a shepherd and of green
pastures and still waters, symbolic of tran
quillity and satisfaction, as his ultimate
gift to man. Catch the pure melody that
streams from Pauls chant to love! Look
upon that grand word picture of the new
earth which is to come out of the struggles
and tears and prayers of the ages, where
there is to be sorrow. no pain, no clash
ing, no fear, but love and joy and peace and
spiritual triumphs.
Run through the Bible in this way, paus-
ing before these and numerous passages of
similar loneliness and power, and you cam
4lott 81 o,,1 old hnnl
of the noblest poems of the world,
and has style unsurpassed in literature.
So line man OF letters as Mr.. Charles
Dudley Warner not not long ago said: Who'll
ethical value the Bible Is the one book that
no intelligent person who wishes to come
into contact with the world of thought and
TO share the ideas of the great minds of the
Christian era can afford to be ignorant of.
All modern literature and all art are per-
meated with it. There is scarcely a great
book in the language that can be fully un-
derstood and enjoyed without this knowl-
edge, so full is it Of illusions and illustra-
tion5 from the Bible. This is true of fiction
and poetry, of economic and of philosophic
works and also OF scientific treatiSes. 1t is
not at all a question of religion or of dog
ma, ii is question of general intelligence.
1t is in itself almost a liberal education, as
many great masters in literature have testi-
fed 1t has so entered into law, literature,
thought and the whole modern life of the
Christian world that ignorance of IL is a
most serious disadvantage to the student
TREASURES OF THOUGHT.
Take the thought of the Bible. Though
profound, it is as clear and pure as the
waters Of those wonderful lakes whose
fathoms of depth only serve to bring the
treasures the bottom nearer and make
them the more beautiful. The opening verse
of Genesis prophesies the profound thinking
which the language of Jesus and Paul final
ly fulfill. In saying that lin the beginning
o. h. I'll H., ~,
writer struck the keynote of the universe.
The final word of science and religion will
not be different from the first word of the
first book of these Scriptures. And L
ready TO believe that some of the writers
had intuitive vision OF the way In which
creation has taken place, for find the doc
trine of evolution as truly, though POLITICALLY,
foreshadowed in the 1S9th Psalm as it was
anticipated in TennySon'S I'm Memoriam,"
and finally worked out in the scientific
treatises. Paul may he classed among the
basis of his declaration that the natural is
first and the spiritual afterward, and his
magnificent deliverance that the whole
creation has been grooming together and
Travelling in pain, waiting for the manifes-
tations of the sons of God.
Not only are the cause and method of
creation stated in this book, but the OBJ
ject of creation is given In teaching. that
the production and perfecting of man is the
purpose Of the universe, the Bible long ago
philosophy. You may open any book you
please that pretends 10 deal with the funda-
mental phases of things. you will come back
to the Bible and say that it excels them all.
Far be it from me to ignore or demean
the ethical worth and Intellectual ellie power s6GN.
Brahmins, Mohammedans, Chinese and
Persians; but acquaintance with their very
nneSt e99e me mat Of the the
world is eminently just in rating our Bible,
particularly our New Testament, as greatly
superior in thought and spirit to any of the
nf no cd
Far be it from me to forget the noble
precepts and the noble lives TO be found in
literature outside the Bible put al tnat is
good there is found here. and more; L can
we'll understand why the best literary
minds of our age are declaring, that he Is
not an educated man, not scholar, not one
of the literati, who is ignorant of the Old
and New Testament literature.
RELIGION AND ETHICS.
Turn, please. from the Bible as literature.
to the Bible as religious ard ethical guide.
Here it is in it's proper and preferred ele-
ment. Here 1t defies its competitors to APP
proach it in grandeur and purity and in
spirational force.
What are its themes? Does it deny the
existence of God, the Immortality of the
soul, the freedom Of the WILL the precious
of life and the fruitfulness of char
acter? Or, does 1t breathe like an exalted
soul with assurances Of the reality and
nearness of Deity; sing like a lark on a
May morning of the sweetness and happi-
ness of living; trumpet in celestial tones,
that character is highest and eternal; and
rend the veil between this and another eX-
istence. setting az rest all hearts that long
TO know if the night of the grave has any
morning?
To ask these questions is to answer them.
You know on which side the Bible stands.
1t is a book which never goes wrong about
pride, about lust. about vanity, about sub
mission. about obedience, about reverence,
about love-its teachings shine brighter on
these subjects from beginning TO end.
But the teachings of the Bible, superior
they are, are surpassed by the lives it
records. Take these as a whole and where
will you find a nobler group than the Old
and New Testament characters? Has Joseph
been eXcelled among the prime ministers OF
nations? In craftsmanship has the world
surpassed that of the old prophets? Why"
said Henry Ward Beecher, Il am disguised
when a man thinks as he reads Isaiah and
jeremiah. that his business Is 10 see wheth
what they said came TO pass. These were
moral statesmen. Geniuses of recttude
were they that rose in times OF dlstempera-
ture. and bore witness for truth and right.
were lifted high above the age in which
they lived"
Find, if YOU can. a preacher truer to his
office than Nathan or Paul: a father ten
derer toward his son than David; daugh-
ter-in-law more utterly conSecrated TO her
mother-in-law than Ruth. and friends so
entirely wrapped up in each other Da-
central figure OF the Bible, as he is the
leader of the world to-day how SYMMETRY
cal. how glorious. how transcendent his
character, II is prejudice indeed, that can
so blind a man that he claims TO see blem-
ishes in the life of Jesus. The broadest,