The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1899-12-07
TALMAGE's SERMON.
FAULT FINDERS WITH THE
WORD OF GOD.
Chs Alleged Unoleanness OF the Bible
Only the Unclsanness of the Hearts
aud Minds of the Wou,d-Bs Ex-
purgators.


mage deals with subject that is agi-
Eating the entire Christian church at
the present moment. viz, ''Expurgation
OF the Scriptures" The text chosen
was. Let God be true, but every man a
liar" Romans ill.,, 4.
The Bible needs reconstruction ac-
cordlng to some inside and outside the
pulpit. 1t is no surprise that the world
bombards the Scriptures, but it is
amazing to find Christian ministers
picking at this in the Bible and deny
Ing that until many good people are
left In the fog about what parts of the
Bible they ought to believe, and what
parts reject. The Nervousness of find
Ing fault with the Bible at this time is
assailed by scurrility, by misrepresent-
alton, by infidel scientists, by all the
vice OF earth and all the venom of per-
dition. and at this particular time even
preachers of the Gospel fall into line of
criticism of the word of God. Why, it
makes me think of a ship in a Sep
TENDER equinox, the waves dashing to
N,
matches fastened down, and many
prophesying the laundering of the
steamer, and at that time some of the
crew with axes and saws go down into
the hold Of the ship and they try to
saw off some of the planks and pry out
some of the timbers because the timber
did not come from the right forest!
~ 81 IL
business for the crew to be helping the
winds and storms outside with their
axes and saws inside. Now. this old
Gospel ship, what with the roaring of
earth and hell around the stem and
stern, and mutiny on deck, is having
very rough voyage, but have noticed
that not one of the timbers has start
ed. and the captain says he will see
1t through. And / have noticed that
keelson and counter-tim ber-knee are
built of Lebanon cedar, and she is go
ing to weather the gale, but no credit
to those who make mutiny on deck.
When l see professed Christians in
this particular day finding fault with
the Scriptures it makes me think of
fortress terrifically bombarded, and the
men on the ramparts, instead of swab-
bling out and loading the guns, and
helping fetch up the ammunition from
the magazine, are trying with crow
bars to pry out from the wall certain
blocks OF stone, because they did not
come from the right quarry. Oh, men
on the ramparts, better fight back. and
IN
stead of trying to make breaches in
the wall.
While I oppose this expurgation Of
tho Scriptures. shall give you my rea-
sons for such opposition. What" say
some of the theological evolutionists.
whose brains have been added by too
long brooding over them by Darwin
and Spencer. you don't now really be-
Heve all the story of the Garden OF
Eden. do you?" Yes, as much as be-
lieve there were roses in my garden
last summer. But" say they, you
don't really believe that the sun and
moon stood still?" Yes. and if l had
strength enough to create sun and
moon could make them stand still, or
SO it would appear to stand still
But" they say. you don't believe
that the whale swallowed Jonah?" Yes,
and If were strong enough to make
whale could have made very easy in
gress for the refractory prophet, leav-
ing to evolution to eject him, If he were
an unworthy tenant! But" say tl-y,
ho1;
was turned into wine?" Yes, just as
easily as water now is often turned
into wine with an admixture of strych-
nine and logwood! But" they say,
you don't really believe that Samp-
son slew thousand with the Jaw
bone of an ass?" Yes, and think
that the man who in this day assaults
the Bible is welding the same weapon!
am opposed to the cxpurgation of
the Scriptures in the first place. be-
cause the Bible in its present shape has
been SO miraculously preserved. Fiji
teen hundred years after Herodotus
wrote his history, there was only one
manuscript copy of it. Twelve hun
dred years after Plato wrote his book.
there was only one manuscript copy of
1t. God was so careful to have us
have the Bible in just the right shape
that we have fifty manuscript copies
of the New Testament a thousand
years old, and some of them fifteen
hundred years old. This book, handed
down from the time of Christ, or lust
after the time of Christ. by the han.
of such men as Origen in the second
century and Tertullian in the third
century. and by men of different ages
who died for their principles. The
three best copies of the New Tesla
ment in manuscript in the possession
of the three great churches-the Prot
estant church of England. the Greek
church of st. Petersburg. and the Ro-
mish church of Italy.
1t is plain matter Of history that
Tischendorf went to a convent in the
peninsula of Sinai and was by ropes
lifted over the wall into the convent,
that being the only mode of admission,
and that he saw there in the waste
basket for kindling for the fires, man
uscript Of the Holy Scriptures. That
night he copied many of the passages
of that Bible, but it was not until fif-
teen years had passed of earnest en-
treaty and prayer and coaxing and pur-
chase on his part that that copy of
the Holy Scriptures was put into the
haad of the emperor of Russia-that