The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1903-11-12

ton OF the w ord OF Goa. among tle SUP
stantial truths OF Bible inspiration IS the
that stamp and glorify and perpetuate the
pages of this more than human book.
teachings respecting God and man, holl'
ness and sin, death and eternity. How the
whole circle of religious truth from centre
to circumference, is not only touched, but
filed up by the revelations Of this inspired
Word
Take the one question of the Godhead
and the light thrown upon it by the sacred
Scriptures. AS DR.. Stuart I;obinson has
eloquently said, The Bible maintained the
unity of God amid all the darkness OF the
Western polytheism; the vivid personality
OF God amid all the sophlstry, OF the last
ern pantheism; and ineffable purity OF
the holiness OF God amid all the obscurity
OF Egyptian theories and Canaanitish idol.
atry; the omnipresence of God amid all
the theories OF gods many anS 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: I'm 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 everlastt,,
ing. 1nou are God;;" God is SPIRIT
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 CT
earth. lear and weigh these:
% God is a 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; 81 God IS.
absolutely infinite in all His. attributes
and capacities-in power omnipotent, IN
knowledge omniscient, in existence omni-
present, in purpose immutable, Ia charac.
ter immaculate; the embodiment: of .alls
that is good and great; the impersoRat!on
of all excellence; a. God is previdential,
not far off and inaccessible, careless OF
self-acting laws and untouched by human
woes, but God of sympathy, compassion,
love; a God, who, in all His laws, and be-
hind all His laws. and abeve all His laws,
guards cherubim and seraphim angels and
archangels, but also marks the movement
of lily, sparrow and child; and above all,
God is a Redeemer, living and dying
among men in seif-sacrifice inefable, TO
lift them from darkness to Light, from sin
to glory; in short not mere ideal Of a
uod to worship but Ged with whom
every human soul may have personal, con-
scious relations, God to fear, Ged to
love, Gsd to pray to, Ged to obey
a God SO holy that we muct abandon sin
if We would serve Him, and God SO low
ing that eur very sin has moved Him to
a self-denying atonement.. Truly, this
Book that tells so much about God must
be book from God.
Because it is Gods Book, the Bible is
peculiarly man s book, when man would
rise to loftiest conceptions and highest
achievements. 1t is wonderful how our
w.lole English literature has become per.
meated. saturated and elevated by senti-
ments and expressions from the holy
scriptures One of the most interesting
studies to the student, alike Of the Bible
and of Shakespeare, is the indebtedness OF
the Bard of Avon to these oracles 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 ILL.," are forty
nine; yonder in Hamlet" alone, eighty.
two. How many biblical books are there!
Sixty-sl~. From how many does Shakes
peare quote, or to how many does ne re-
fer? TO ffty-four. How many plays has
SudASSpSolSs LIN -SSSSAi. 4A NO" 1AoAAJ
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, ffty.nine; Proverbs,
thirty.6ve; Isaiah, twenty-ene; Matthew.
sixty; Luke, thirty; Romans, twenty
three. Nor is this exceptional. A schol.
arly American author has declared that it
is as imnossibie to subtract the Bible from
our mouern English literature as ito un.
braid the sunbeamss or subtract the vel.
that fill tfe solar system with warmth ana
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 Bunyan 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 LIGHT 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 his early days
impaired to him many Of the chief excel
lencies of his literary sty.e. NO wonder
that the gifted Choate elequently ex-
claimed: Il would have the Bible read,
not only for it's 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
universal truth" Truly this Book Of
books must be the Book of God.
But We have 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 oa immortality is attrac-
tive to the scholar, but obscure and dull to
the unlettered man; the Veda. OF. the Him
dus is, as whole, unintelligible; the kor-
an is said to be a 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 10 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, soly-
ing mans most intricate problems, IL
Illuminating mans most darkest hours, giv-
ing him support in life, peace in death,
and a song of sweetest melody amid the