St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-12-05

whether those things were so'-John o.o9
and Acts I'LL.
1 HE first part OF our
~ text consists OF
k. lxN\l words spoken by
>GAAAAssS Jesus in challenge
AA&M1lkAN@ and command tc
| GD : VIZ =: Jew: :. 3 s r. :
:: !: =: :: :: ! !: ]; ];
%Ez3 X4V@ truth as fulfilled
.ssf|1Bl RSk-EfwIa in Christ and re-
AfHHNglabuK w vealed by Him In
i: :isifSbE1HA 81 y His teachings;
.NAy&.TaHgI<n and the remaining
.IfzzzzT. part of the text
tx is the testimony
horne in resnect to the Berean Jews
to whom Paul and Silas came with tue
message of salvation, after they had
been SO shamefully driven out OF ines
salonica. Here we have precept ana
example-Jesus' command and q peau-
tiful and striking obedience to the let
ter and spirit of that command. Jesus
recognized the Scriptures as the au-
thoritative word of God, and they were
always His last source OF appeal. He
held up to the Jews who rejected HIS
claims as the promised Messiah the
very Scriptures which they recognized
as the Word of God, and with which
they were familiar. and challenged
them to study the sacred writings
again, for they testify of Me-" They
had read the Scriptures and yet they
had not learned the truth. The Thes-
salonian Jews had the same heart OF
unbelief. They read in blind bigotry,
instead of openness Of mind which
characterized the Berean Jews. Inc
latter searched the Scriptures daily,
whether those things were So" Here
was neglect Of the Scriptures on the
one hand, and on the other a daily
reading and studying OF Gods WORD
in search for the truth. The Thessa-
lonians recognized the Scriptures as
the Word of God. Generally speaking,
they undoubtedly we're familiar with
them. They heard them read in the
synagogue from week to week. They
observed the externalities OF the Jew
ish faith, as revealed in those Scrip
lures. But Notwithstanding all this
there was neglect of Gods Word, and
In this respect the Bereans were IN
striking contrast to them, for they did
that which the Thessalonians refused
to do, searched the Scriptures daily"
rs there neglect of Gods Word to-
day? Are the Berean type OF people
sadly in the minority, and the Thessa-
lonians vastly in the majority every
where? How generally is Christ's
command: Search the Scriptures. -
being obeyed? and how often do we
find it possible to say of individuals or
communities or churches: "They re-
ceived the Word with all readiness of
mind and searched the Scriptures
daily, whether those things were so?''
Is the Bible. the Word of God, being
neglected? we ask. Certainly not In
respect to the printing Of the Bible
and sending it broadcast over the
earth. More Bibles and Testaments
are being printed every year. Several
million copies of the Bible and parts
of the Bible are being issued every
year by the different Bible societies
and denominations. Already the Bible
has been translated into over 400 diff
ferent languages and dialects, and each
year sees some new translation added
to the long list. Millions of copies of
the Bible and parts OF the Bible are
being sent each year from the United
States to other lands. Surely it can
and distribution of the Word of God
the Bible is being neglected. In the
purchase of Bibles it cannot be claimed
that the Bible is neglected, for a news
paper man who visited the book de-
partment Of all the large department
stores of New York city was told that
the Bible was the best selling book
handled. not excepting the popular
novels Of the day. The sales were
steady and from 10000 to 10000 copies
OF all styles of bindings were sold
each year. And at Christmas time a
special Bible department was neces-
sary, requiring the constant attention
i
as q guide to the general popularity of
the Bible, it can be said that in the
purchase of the Bible the sacred Book
Is not being neglected. And in dis
cussion Of the Bible it is not being
neglected. The higher critics and the
lower critics, too, for that matter, are
not neglecting the Bible 1t Is the
most talked of book in the world.
Each year multiplies the myriad of
books which treat of the Bible in some
respect or other. And SO 1t cannot be
charged that the Bible Is being neg
lected by the scholars of the day. And
in the direction Of archaeology there
is no neglect Of the Bible. Almost
every year some new monument. or
tablet, or parchment is being discoy-
cred which establishes more firmly the
authenticity Of the sacred writings.
and throws light upon the countries
and peoples and times with which its
history and biography and literature
had to do.
p UT the fact that the publishing houses
u and Bible societies, the book stores
the scholars, and archaeologists Of the
day are not neglecting the Bible as a
commercial commodity or as subject
of research and discussion does not
prove that the Bible is not being neg
lected. If after the printing press and
distributing agent nave done their part
in placing the Bible in the hands of the
individual, it remains practically a
closed book, not even to be opened once