Arizona republican., 1899-04-30

ing which the language of Jesus and
 Paul finally fulfls. Tn saying that fin
 the beginning God created the he2T- ems and the earth" tfe writer struck
 the keynote of the universe. The final
 word Of science and religion will not
 ke different from the first word Of the
 first book of these scriptures And am ready to believe that some Of the
 writers had intuitive vision Of the way in which creation has taken place, TOT II find the doctrine of evolution as tru- Iv. though poeticalIy foreshadOwed in the 18th Psalm as 1t was antici- pated in Tennyson's Tn MemGriam,' and finally worked out in the scientific | trea-ises Paul may be chased | among the deepest interpreters of the
 universe on the basis O. his 15clara- | tion that the natural is first and the spiritual afterward, and his magnif-
 cent deIiverance that the whole crea- ! tion has been grooming together and | travailing in pain, waiting for the
 manifestations of the sons of Gcd- l Not Cnly are the cause and method of creation stated in this book, but tls i object Of creation is given In teach l ing that the production and perfectinS Of man is the purpose of the universe, the Bible Icng ago anticipated the conclusions of modern philosophy
 You may open any book you please that pretends to deal with the fun53-
 mental phases of things, you will come
 back to the Bibl8 and say that 1t eX-
 cels them all.
 Far be it from me to ignore or de
 mean the ethical worth and intellec-
 tual power of the sacred books cf the
 Buddhists. Brahmins, M0hanmsS1ars,
 Chinese and Persians; but acquain-- ance with their very finest passages
 satisfies me that the scholarship and religious criticism of the world is e-nl- nently just in rating our Bible, partic- 1
 uIarly cur New Testament, as greatly ] superior in thought and spirit to any l Of the Bibles of the s0-caIled heathen l peoples
 Far be it from me to forget the noble l
 Drecepts and tns noble lives to be ! fCunz in literature caE-side the Bible, ! but all that is good there fs found here, ] and more. can well understand why l the best literary minds Of our ago are l declaring that he is not an educated | man, net 3 scholar, not ore cf the liz 1 erati. who is ignorant of the Old and l New Testam= Tt literature
 Turn. pleas. from the Bible as iit- i erature. to the Bible as a re.igicG5 ani ! ethical guide. Here t is in it's proper f and preferred element Here IL Jefies | it's cCn petitors to approach it in gran deur and p1rity and inspiratiOnaI . force.
 Wha- are it's Ihemes2 Does 1t deny the existence Of God She immortality Of th7 soul. the freedom Of Ihe will, the prCciOusress of life and the frUit- fuIness Of character? Or. does it breathe like an exalted soul with as- suTances Cf the realty and neaTnss5 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 existence. setting aie resJ all hearts that long to know if the night of the grave has any morning?
 To ask these questions, is to answer them Y-u know on which side the Bible stands. IL is a book which never goes wrong about pride, about lust, about vanity. G0out submission ab0UC obedience, about reverence, about love its teachings shine brighter on Ehsse subjects frCm beginning to end
 But she teachings Of the Bib.e- sU- periOr as they are. are surpassed by the the lives it records Take Ihsse as 8 whole and where will you find q n0bler group than tre Old and Naw TeE2nzlt characters2 Has Joseph been excelIed among the prime minis ters Of nations? In craftsmanship. has the world surpassed that of the old prophets2 Why" said Henry Ward Bsecher. T am disgusted when a man thinks as he reads Isaiah and Jcr7- f miab. that his business is to see whether what they said came to pass These Ws-e moral statesmen Geniuses Of rectitude were they that rose in fines Of distenperature. and bore wit = ness for truth and right Magnificent men they were Thzir heads were ifesd high above the age in which they ived''
 Find. if you can. a preacher truer to lis office than Nathan or Paul: fath- 1T tenderer toward his sCn than David; l daughteT-in-law mCre uttsrly conse- rated to her n1other-in-law than Ruth. and friends so entirely wrapped ID in each other as David and Jona- !. han. And when it comes to the cen raj figure of the Bible. as He is the ! eddSr of the world today. how sym netTical, how glorious, how transcend mt His character! IL is prejudice in \ Iced that can so blind man that ne ;laims to see b.ernishes in the life of ! Jesus The bTOa5est. keenest. rarest minds Of the race have united with l, Tennyson in saying: | Strong Son cf God. immortal love. The highest, holiest manhood th0ul {
 The teachings and examples of the I Bible lift t to the pinnacle Of sacred 'ooks. and make it, truly. the spiritual 2 ight of the race And while few .coffers would traduce it in the land where it's influence is most potent and )enign, it silently works it's way into he palaces Of formerly hostile mon f lrchs and takes frmer hold upon the 0nsCience Of the world
 Ard this noble book is dear tct count ess hearts Its consultations are great. his night iIrCIigal SGT S21aH read 2 he story of that prOdigaI of long ago. $ md come to himself and to his Father. S