The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-12-04


epeak. mot In the words which mans
wisdom teaeheth but which ttl e.
Chost teacheth" And h0w our lord
throws the BROAD shield Of HE iuiailibo
trnthiulness' over the whole Old Icsta-
ment canon. testilying both 90 the aecu.
racy and the iuviolabilty Of the Word Of
God. The Old Testament was then, as
now, divided into the Law. the Prophets
and the sacred writings. Holding up the
scroll that contained the3e the Master
of the ages with Grmness of conviction
and rapture Of soul, could excaim: III
Is written Search the Scriptures, the
Scriptures cannot be broken With the
shirt OF these our cousccrated predeces.
sors, in Christian faith, .os r- rejoice to-
day az we study The divinity and inspIro-
ton OF the Word OF God. Among the sub
stantial truths OF Bible inspiration is the
pure and lofty character OF the teaching
that stamp and gority and perpetuate the
pages of this more than human look
teachings respecting God and man, holt
ness and sin, death and eternity. How the
whole circle OF religious truth from centre
TO circumference, Is not only touched, but
filed no by the revelations Of this inspired
Word.
Take the one question Of the Godhead
and the light thrown upon 1t by the sacred
Scriptures As DR.. Stuart I.obnson has
elOlueukly hdlut ne hlnlC uhlHAdiNGh tue
unity of God amid all the darkness OF the
Western polythesm; the vivid personality
O. God amid all the sophistry of the East
ern pantheism; and ineifable purity OF
the holiness Of God amid all the obscurity
of Egyptian theories and Canaanltish idol
airy; the omnipresence of God amid all
the theories OF gods many and lords
many" How infinitely above and beyond
all human speculations are the revelations
of the Divine Word respecting the Divine
mind! How majestic such declarations
as these. ON the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth. before the
mountains were brought forth of ever
Thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlast-
ing. Thou are Cod" God is a spirits"
God is love;" God is light" In mag
ni6cent treatise on this fundamental ques-
ton of God and the revelations respecting
it made 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 o.
earth. Aear and weigh these:
% God is q spirit, existing from eter-
nifty, Creator of heaven and earth; ~
God is one, yet revealing Himself in the
threefold distinction and personality,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit; ~ God is
absolutely infinite in all His attributes
and capacities-in power omnipJtent, in
knowledge Omnisclent, IN existence omn-
present, in purpose immutable, in charac-
ter immaculate; the embodiment of all
that is good and great; the impcrsonation
% all excellence; "a cd Is providential.
not far off and inaccessible careless Of
| sef-acting laws and untouched by human
/ woes, but a God of sympathy, compassion,
/ love; a God, who, in all His laws, and be-
/ hind 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 lily, sparrow and child; and above all,
/ God is a Redeemer, living and dying
among men in sef-sacri6ce ineffabe, to
| lift them from darkness to light, from sin
to glory; in short not a mere ideal OF a
/ Tod to worship but a God with whom
every human soul may have personal, con-
scious relations, God to fear, a God to
love, a God to pray to- a God to obey
a God so holy that we muct abandon sin
if we would serve Him. and a God so low
ing that our very sin has moved Him to
self-denylng atonement. Truly, this
Book that tells so much about God must
! a book from God.
Because it is Gods Book, the Bible is
peculiarly mans book, when man would
rise to Hottest conceptions and highest
| achievements. 1t is wonderful how our
lOle English literature has lecor Ie per-
meated, saturated and elevated by senta-
ments and expressions from the Holy
scriptures One of the mo5t interesting
studies to the student, alike of the Bible
and of Shakespeare, is the indebtedness Of
the Bard of Avon to these oracies Of light
and life. A careful study of Shakes
peare's life reveals no fewer than five
hundred and fifty biblical quotations and
sentiments. Here in Richard H." are
forty; then in Richard III" are forty
nine; yonder in Hamlet" alone, eighty
two. How many biblical books are there?
Sixty-slv. From how many does Shakes
peare quote, or to how many does he re-
fer? TO tiftyfour. How many plays has
Shakespeare? Thlrty-seven. In how many
are there ScriDtural 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,
thirty-iive; Isaiah, twenty-one; Matthew,
sixty; Luke, thirty; Romans, twenty
three. Nor is this exceptional. A schol-
arly American author has declared that it
Is as imnossible to subtract the Bible from
our modern English literature as ito I'M
braid the sunbeams or subtract the yell
low or violet rays from the tides of light
that fill 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 Agonistes" With
out the Bible Buuyan could never have
composed his Pilgrim" or Tacit his
Jerusalem" or Dante his Inferno or
Burns his "Cotter's Saturday Night" No
wonder John Quincy Adams could ex-
claim: 'In whatever lqht we view the
Bible, whether with reference to revela-
ton 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 bis early days