Connecticut western news., 1900-06-28
BEST OF ALL BOOKS.
OR. TALMAGE UPHOLDS THE BIBLES
 DIVINE ORIGIN.


 DIVINE ORIGIN.
 Miracles of the New Testament Un- 1 assailabie, and the FulAlled Proph- ! eciss of the Old Testament Prove l It's Emanation From God. ! WARRINGTON, June 24.-In the great conflict now raging in Europe, as in this country, between Christianity and agnosticism Dr. Talmage has taken . decided stand and In this sermon declares his unwavering belief in the divine origin of the Scriptures; text, Matthew vii, 18, Do men gather grapes of thorns?'
 Not In this country. Not in any coun- try. Thorns stick, thorns lacerate, but all the thorns put together never yield cd one cluster of Catawba or Isabella grapes. Christ, who was the master of apt and potent illustration, Is thus setting forth what you and I well know-that you cannot get that which is pleasant and healthful and good from that which Is bad. If you find a round, large, beautiful cluster of grapes, you know that 1t 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, grand fruit, splendid fruit, you will come to the conclusion it Is good Bible, and all the arguments of the skeptic against 1t, when he tries to show 1t Is bad book, will go overheard.
 Do men gather grapes of thornsT Can a bad book yield good resultsf Skeptics with great vehemence declare that the Bible is a cruel book. They read the story of the extermination of the Canaanites and of all the ancient wars and of the history of David and Joshua, and they come to the conclu- sion that the Bible is In favor of lacera- tion and manslaughter and massacre. Now, bad book will produce a bad result, a cruel book will produce cruel result.
 You have friends who have been in the habit of reading the Bible a great many years. Have you noticed tend ency to cruelty on their part? Have
  and practically say, 'I have been read ing the story about the exterminatlon 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 I can lay my hands onY' Have your friends in proportion as they become diligent Bible students and disciples of the Christ of the Bible, shown a tendency daughter? Has that been your ob- serv0tlon?
 Effects of Bible Reading.
 What has been the effect upon your children of this cruel bookP Or, if you do not allow the book to be read in your household, what has been the ef- feet upon the children of other house holds where the Word of God Is hon. ored? Have they as result of read ing this cruel book gone forth with a cruel spirit to pull the wings off flies and to pinion grasshoppers and to rob birds nests? A cruel book ought to make cruel people; If they diligently read 1t and get absorbed with it's prin- ciples, 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 Florence Nightingale, of John How ard, of John Frederick Oberiin, of Ab- bot Laurence? Have you noticed in reading the biography of these people that in proportion as they became friends of the Bible they became ene- mics to humanity? Have you not. on the contrary, noticed that all the insti- tutions of mercy were established, or, being established, were chiefly support ed by the friends of this book? There is the hospital in wartime. There are 20 Christian women. They are bind ing up wounds. they are offering cor dials, they are kneeling down by the dying praying for their departing spir- it's. Where does the cruelty crop out? They have been reading the Bible all their lives. They read 1t every morn ing; they read 1t every night; they car, ry 1t under their arm when they go into the hospital.
 
 hemently charge that this Bible is an impure book. You all know that an impure book produces impure results. No amount of money could hire you to allow your child to read an unclean book. Now, if this Bible be an impure book, where are the victims? Your fa- ther read it-did 1t make him a bad man? Your mother read it-did 1t make her a bad womanf Your sister 15 years in heaven died in the faith of this gospel-did it despoil her nature? Some say there are POO 0,OO0, 600 copies of the Bible in existence; some say there are 400,0O0,0O0 copies of the Bi- ble. It Is impossible to get the accu- rate statistic. But suppose there are 200, 900 copies of the Bible abroad, this one book read more than any 20 books that the world ever printed, this book abroad for ages, for centuries where are the victims? Show me 1000; show me 800 victims of an impure book; show me 100 despoiled of the Bi- ble; show me 30; show me 10; show me 2; show me 1! Two hundred mill lion copies of an impure book, and not one victim of the impurity! On the contrary, you know very well that 1t is where the Bible has the most power that the family institution Is most re- spected.
 Four Great Doctrines.
 Again, agnostics go on still further, and they say the Bible Is q mass of contradictions, and they put prophet against prophet, evangelist against evangelist apostle against apostle, and they say if this be true how, then, can that be true. MT. Mill, who was . friend of the Bible, said he had discov- cred 30,00O different readings of the Scriptures and yet not one important difference, not one important difference put of 5000, only the difference that you might expect from the fact that Ah1 boo ~