The record-union., 1899-06-12
AUTHORSHIP
OF The BIBLE,


preached the fourth of his series Of
Bible sermons. Speaking from the
text Grew, 14:15)-"I heard voice
from heaven saying unto me, write -
he said
The writer Of this last book OF the
Bible was the apostle John. No one
OF the twelve lived SO near to- the heart
OF Jesus, no one of them understood
Jesus better than this disciple. His
HE OF Jesus ds acknowledged to be the
highest and deepest and richest reve-
latlon of divine truth and grace in the
possession of the church In addition
20 the gospel that bears his name John
wrote three epistles. and this last book
called the Revelation. 1t is difficult
10 conceive a person more fitted to re-
ceive divine communication than this
pure and devout disciple who tells US
gnat ne heard a voice from heaven say
ing unto him: Write the things which
1hou hast seen, and the things which
are, and the things which shall be here
after" A blessing is promised all those
VINO will read and heed these divine
communications. Blessed is he that
readeth and they that hear the words
OF this prophecy, and keep those things
Wrlch are written therein 1t is a
1act of history and observation that the
p-eSsing of God does attend the read
ing Of this word of God. Show me a
Ierson, a community, a nation that rev.
erently reads this holy book and puts
lis teachings into practice, and I will
SHOW you a. people far advanced above
: their fellows in intellectual en1ow-
ments, in moral character, and in ma
ferfal prosperity.
AT the top of the Queens staircase in
windsor Castle is a bronze statue rep
resenting man with an open Bible in
one hand, while with the other he is
pointing TO the text, Thy word is a
ramp unto my feet and light unto my
! path" The statue was placed there
py order of Edward the VI, that his
sons might be reminded that the wis.
est and safest book for Kings and
Princes to follow as we'll as for the
people, is the Bible. 1t is to the intelli-
4, gent faith of the best students of ma
uonal life that Great Britain owes her
emlnence among the nations of the
earth to the teaching and inspirations
or this book When a foreign Prince
asked queen Victoria what was the Sc
cret or her nations greatness, the wise
Queen presented him with copy of
the Word of God, and told him he
would find the secret in that book.
When a deputation of Indian chiefs
visited the White House at Washing
ton, and wanted to know from the
Presidene how they might lift their
dusky tribes up to the level of their
white brethren, in intelligence and
moral progress General Q. O. Howard
standing by, said to the President,
Give them the Bible" He knew that
the entrance of Gods word giveth light.
and leads in the way of the highest
civilization.
There was never a time when the
Bible was so exposed to the searchIight
of criticism as to-day. Men are pry-
ing into its history and structure as
never before. They are asking what
1t teaches of God and man, of duty and
destiny In some quarters attempts
nave been made to unsettle mems faith
In its divine authorship and authority
We should not condemn or speak un-
kindly of men who have honest doubts
concerning the divineness of the Bible
The skeptical spirit is not an unmixed
evil. 1t may lead to a. closer exami-
nation of the truth doubted, and result
in fuller knowledge and stronger faith
The attacks that have been made on
the Bible, have led to a closer study of
it, and has Intensified mems faith in
its divine authorship. It is safe to
say that the men who have studied it
most thoroughly are the strongest in
the belief, that ii is not of man but of
God The most advanced and highly
cultured people on the earth to-day, ac-
.cept this book as the word of God. The
greatest fntellects are reverent in its
presence. This fact should have weight
with thinking men. If you fail to be
NJ cd in he h6 n
-tion is, that the fault is with you rath-
Ter than with the book. The man who
is true to the Bible will find abundance
of proof that the Bible is true.
Think of what we have in the Bible.
There are thirty-nine books in the Old
Testament and twenty seven in the
New Testament These sixty-six little
pamphlets or books, bound into one,
CONSTITUTE our Bible. These sixty-six
books were written by about forty diff
sferent men living in different periods
OF the worlds history. Some of the
writers were scholars. some were I'M
i1earned men; some were Kings on
Ahrones. some prisoners in dungeons,
some exiles on lonely islands. They
swere fishermen and farmers, statesmen
ana scribes, poets. priests and proph-
Gets. These forty different writers were
Keparated in time by peTlod exteHu-
sdng over fifteen hundred years. Some
5wrote in the Hebrew language, some
tdn Chaldaic and some in Greek.
What kind of book do you suppose
hhat would be, written by so many
.ddfferent authors, some Of them a
thousand years apart; writing in diff
ferent languages and styles; some Writ
ing prose, some poetry, some history,
some biography, some law and some
epistles?
Take these sixty-six books or pamph-
lets. written by forty different persons,
and bind them into one book, and what
sort of medley is it likely to be? You
saw it will lack unity and coherency.
1t will be destitute of plan and pur-
,pcse. That is what you might reason
ably expect, and that is what 1t would
be. If it were merely human produc-
ton
Send forty printers into the type
room tomorrow morning and tell each
man to set up column of his own
composition or selection, then tell them
TO print what they have set up and
bind all together in one book, and give
the book a name, significant of its sub
ject matter What is the book about?
You look into it and you say, We'll,
it's about almost everything. / can't
see that it's about anything in partic-
ular. There is no unity, no order, no
plan or purpose. It's sort OF hodge
podge meaningless medley