The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1900-06-30
OF DIVINE ORIGIN.
DR.. Talmage's Reasons for His Be-
lief III the Scriptures.
The Good Accomplished in the world
as an E~yidence-An Answer to
observation-disclosures
FULFILLED.
Copyright. 1900. by Louis Klopsch.1



Europe as in this country between
Christianity and agnosticism DR.. Tai
mage has taken a decided stand, and in
this sermon declares his unwaverlng
belief in the divine origin of the Scrip
lures; text, Matthew, 7:16, ID men
gather grapes of thorns?'
Not in this country. Not IN any
country. Thorns stick, thorns LAGER
ate, but all the thorns put together
never yielded one cluster OF Catawoa
or Isabella grapes. Christ, who was
the master of apt and potent illustra-
ton. is thus setting forth what you
and l well know, that you cannot get
that which is pleasant and healthful
and good from that which is bad. II
YOU find a round, large, beautiful clus-
ter of grapes, you know that it was
produced by a good grapevine and not
from a tangle of Canada thistle. Now,
if l can show you that this holy Bible
yields good fruit, healthful fruit, splen-
did fruit, you will come to the conclu-
sion that it is a good Bible, and all the
arguments of the skeptic against it
when he tries to show it is a bad book
Will go ~OVerDOarO.
do men gather grapes of thorns?'
Can a bad book yield good results?
Skeptics with great vehemence declare
that the Bible is a cruel book. They
read the story of the determination OF
the Canaanites and of all the ancient
wars and of the history of David n
Joshua. and they come to the conclu-
sion that the Bible is in favor of lacera-
ton and m~anslaughter and massacre
Now, a bad book will produce a bad
result, a cruel book will produce a cruel
result.
You have friends who have been in
the habit OF reading the Bible a great
many years. Have you noticed a ten
dency to cruelty on their part? Have
you ever heard any of them come out
and practically say: 4 have been read
ing the story about the determination
of the ~Canaanites, and l am seized upon
with a disposition TO cut and slash and
maui and pinch and murder and knock
to pieces everything l can lay my
hands on?" Have your friends in pro
portion as they become diligent Bible
students and disciples of the Christ of
the Bible shown a tendency toward
massacre and murder and manslaugh-
ter? Has that been your observation?
What has been the effect upon your
children of this cruel book? Or il you
do not allow the book to be read in
your household, what has been the eff
feet upon the children of other house
holds where the word of God is hon
ored? Have they as a result of reading
this cruel book gone forth with a cruel
spirit to pull the wings of flies and to
pinion grasshoppers and TO rob birds
nests? A cruel book ought to make
cruel people. If they diligently read it
and get absorbed with its principles
that cause must produce that effect. AT
what time did you notice that the
teachings Of this holy Bible created
cruelty in the heart and the life OF
George Peabody, OF Miss Dix, of Flor
ence Nightingale, of John Howard. o.
John Frederick Oberlin. of Abbot Lau
renee? Have you noticed in reading
the biography of these people that il
proportion as they became friends o.
the Bible they became enemies to hu
mainly? Have you not, on thu
contrary, noticed that all the institu
tions of mercy established or being es
tablished were chiefly supported by thu
friends of this book? There is the hos
pital in war time. There are 20 Chris
tian ONE They are binding u
wounds; they are offering cordials
they are kneeling down by the dyinl
praying for their departed spirits
Where does the cruelty crop out? The.
have been reading the Bible all thei
lives. They read it every morning
they read it every night; they carry !
under their arm when they go int
the hospital.
Where does the cruelty of the boo
crop out? Is it in the gentleness c
their step? Is it in the cadence c
their voice? Is it in the sympatheti
prayer they offer at the bedside of tn
dying? Your common sense tells 20
that a cruel book must produce cru,
results. When you can make a ros
leaf stab like a bayonet, and wAe
you can manufacture icicles out of til
south wind, and when you can poiso
your tongue with honey got frol
~blossoming buckwheat, then you ca
get cruelty out of the Bible. TIL;
charge of the skeptics falls fat in IL
presence of every honest man.
Again, infdels go on and most v
hemently charge that this Bible is q
impure book. You all know that
impure book produces impure result
No amount of money could hire W
to allow your child to read an u
clean book. Now, if this Bible be
impure book, where are the victim
Your father read ibid it make hi
a bad man? Your mother read it
dad it make her a bad woman? Yo'
sister IS years in Heaven died in t
faith of this gospel-did it despoil h
nature? Some say there are 10000
600 copies of the Bible in existent
some say there are 400 ,000, 900 copi
of the Bible. 1t is impossible to 2
the accurate statistics, but suppo
there are 2O0,0Oo,CoO copies of t