The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-11-04

as these I'm the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth; before the
Thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to ever,nst-
ing. 1nou are Cod" God is a spirit"
God is love-" God is light" In a mag
nificent treatise. on this fundamental ques-
tion of God and the revelations respecting
it mad, by the Scriptures, an American
writer has pointed out five conceptions
of God found in the Bible, and found no.
where else among all the religions of
earth. lIear and weigh these
~ God is spirit, existing from eter-
nifty, Creator of heaven and oirth; (2)
tod is one, yet revealing Himself in the
threefold distinction and personality,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit; (3 God is
absolutely infinite in all His attributes
and capaclties-in power omnipotent, in
knowledge omniscieht, in existence omni-
present, In purpose immutable, in charac-
ter immaculate; the embodiment OF all
that Is good and great; the impersonation
OF all excellence; (4) ( cd is providential.
not far off and inaccessible, careless of
set-actlng laws and untouched by human
woes, but God of sympathy, compassion,
love; God, who, in all His laws. and be.
hlnd all His laws. and above all His laws,
and in control of all His laws, not only
guards cherubim and seraphim angels and
archangeis, but also marks the movement
OF NY, sparrow and child; and above all,
God is Redeemer, living and dying
among men in se,f-sacriice ineffahe to
hit them from darkness to light, from sin
to glory; in short not mere ideal of a
Tod to worship but God with whom
every human soul may have personal, con-
sclous relations, a God to fear. God to
love, a God to pray to, God to obey
. God so holy that we muct abandon sin
If we would serve Him. and God so low
eli, l,1a t..,I l,,,. a,.
a self.denylng atonement. Truly. this
I5ook that tells so much about God must
be a book from God.
Because it is Gods Book, the Bible is
peculiarly mans book, when man would
rise to loftiest conceptions and highest
achievements. 1t is wonderful how our
" ioe English literature has lecome per.
imeoted, saturated and e,evated by senti.
ments and expressions from the Hoy
scriptures. One of the most interesting
studies to the student, alike OF the BD.e
and OF Shakespeare, is the Indebtedness OF
the Bard OF Avon to these oracles OF light
and life: A careful study of Shakes.
pcares life reveals no fewer than five
hundred and fifty biblical quotations and
Iorty; then in Richard Ill" are forty.
zine; yonder in Hamlet" alone, eighty
two. How many biblical books are there?
SiNty-sl". From how many does Shakes.
peare quote, or to how many does he re-
fer? To fiftyfour How many plays has
Shakespeare? Thirty-seven. In how many
are there Scrintural references? In every
one of the thirty-seven. A careful study
Of this subject will reveal that Genesis
furnishes the poet thirty-one quotations
or references; Psalms, fifty-nine; Proverbs,
thirtv-hye; Isaiah, twenty-one; Matthew,
sixty; Luke, thirty; Romans, twenty
three, Nor is this eXceptional. A schol-
nrl An,a h,, L.. "a
Is as impossib,e to subtract the Bible from
our. moaern English llteratrre as Ito un-
braid the sunbeams or subtract the yell
low or. violet rays from the tides OF light
that i'll the solar system with warmth and
cheer" Each English student knows how
true this is. Without the Bible Milton
could, never have written his Paradise
Lost, and Samson ASonistes." With
out the ,Bib.e Bunyan could never have
composed his pilgrim" or Tacit his
rJerusaem," or Dante his Inferno" or
Burns his Cote Saturday Night No
wonder John Quincy Adams could ex-
taim: In whatever light we view the
Sb!e, whether with reference to reveal
tion or history. or morality, it is a mine
OF knowledge. like which none other has
ever been found in any land or any
realm" No wonder that Daniel Webster,
prince of forensic orators, could say that
the perusal of the Bible in his early days
impaired to him many of the chief excel
lencies of his literary style. No wonder
that the gifted Choate eloquently ex.
claimed: 81 would have the Bible read,
not only for its authority, revelations,
commands and exactness obligatory yes
terday, to-day and forever, but for its
literature. its pathos, its dim imagery, its
sayings of consolation and wisdom and
books must be the Book of God.
But we have a higher proof Of biblical
inspiration even than this, and that is
the perfect adaptness Of the Word OF God
to the conditions of all classes and kinds
of men. Dr.. Storrs well says: "The
treatise of Plato on immortality is qtt,rac-
tive to the scholar, but obscure and dull to
the unlettered man; the Neda of the Hin
dus is, as whole, unintelligible; the Kor-
an is said to be sealed book to the ma
jority OF its constituents. In contrast to
all these, the Bible fills the. whole cir
cumference of mans endowment; it
touches every thought and feeling in this
great humanity; it is adapted to inspire
sage. to instruct the savage, to guide the
child Truly, this is a universal book,
answering mans deepest questions, soiv-
ing mans most intricate problems, il
Illuminating mans most darkest hours. CIV
ing, him support in life. peace in death,
and song of sweetest melody amid the
ineffa bic glory of the eternal world. The
gifted Hallam felt this .wncn he said:
"The Bible fits every fold and crevice of
the human spirit" Not so philosophy.
education, science. Our astronomers point
ont Uranus and Jupiter, but not the Star
of Bethlehem Our biologists unfold
earth's strata, but reveal no Rock of Ages
Charles Reade, the litterateur, writes the
first line of his own epitaph, "Reade, Dra-
matist, Journalist. Novelist" but Charles
Reade, the Christian, pens the other line:
81 hope for a resurrection, not from any
mower Of nature, but from the will of the
Lord God Almighty" Whence came that
revelation save through the dome window
of the sky? .ne Bible alone answers our
deepest questions, solves our most intri-
cate problems, illumines our darkest
hours. There can be no night when it
gives no song, no desert where it furnishes
no fountain. Its revelations supply sup
port in life, peace in death and songs Of
everlasting JOY beyond life. No heart is
too hard for its truths to melt, no sin too
great for the Bible to Danish, no life too
degraded for the Bible to transform. Only
let a man test Gods Word and he will
have in its favor an argument that no
sophistry can destroy and no skepticism
touch.
Tho Hearts Influence.