The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-11-05

| day as we study the divinity ana lnSplrd-
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 glorify and perpetuatc 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
4 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 Itobinson has
eloquent,y said. THE Bible maintained the
unity of God amid all the darkness OF the
OIL God amid all the sophistry of the East.
ern pantheism; and ineffable purity OF
| the holiness of God amid all the obscurity
of Egyptian theories and Canaanitish idol
airy; the omnipresence of God amid ali
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: I'm the beginning God created
| the heavens and the earth; before the
mountains were brought forth of ever
Thou hadst formed the eaNh and the
world. even from everlasting to everlast.
| ing. lGou are Cod" God is a spirit
| Cod is love-" God is light" In mag
niticent treatise on this fundamental ques-
| ton of God and the revelations respecting
it made by the Scriptures, an Ameri lean
writer has pointed out FIVE conceptions
OF God found in the Bible, and found no.
where else among all the religions Of
earth. lear and weigh these:
Q) God is a spirit, existing from eter-
| nifty. Creator of heaven and Garth; (2l
God is one. yet revealing Himself in the
Father. Son and Holy Spirit; 81 God IS
absolutely infinite in all His attributes
and capacities-in power omnipotent, in
knowledge omniscient, in existence omn!-
! present. i'll purpose immutabe, in charac-
ter immaculate: the embodiment of all
that is good and great; the impersonatIon
OF all excellence; az tiod is providentlal
not far off and inaccessible, careless OF
se.f-acting laws and untouched by human
woes but God OF sympathy, compassion,
love: God. who, in all His laws, and be-
and in control Of all His laws, not only
guards cherubim and seraphim angels and
archangels. but also marks the movement
of lily. sparrow and child; and above all,
God is Redeemer, living and dying
among men in self-sacritce ineffable, TO
lift them from darkness to light. from sin
to glory; in short not mere idea. OF
,od 10 worship but a God with whom
every human soul may have personal, con-
scious relations. a God to fear. CHd to
love. Il God to pay 10, God to y
a God so hoy that we muct abandon sin
if we would serve Him. and God so low
Ing that our very sin has moved Him to
self-denying atonement. Traly. this
,;ooI, that tells SO much about God must
be book from God
Because it is Gods Book, the Bible is
peculiarly mans book, when man would
rise TO ioftiest conceptions and highest
achievements. 1t is wonderful how our
W loc English literature has become per-
meated, saturated and elevated by senti-
ments and expressions from the 10y
.,ariptures. One OF the most interesting
studies to TIE student. alike of the Bible
and OF Shakespeare. is the Indebtedness OF
The Bard OF Avon to these orac!es OF light
peare's lie reveals 20 fewer than five
hundred AID fifty biblical quotations and
sentiments. Here in Richard H. are
forty; then in Richard Ill" are forty
nine; yoade- iii i'Hamlet' alone. eighty
two. How many biblical books are there?
SiAty-sr From how many does Shakes
pearc quote. or to how rlaav does he re-
fer: To iif;y-four. How many plays has
Shakespeare: Thir,y-seven. In how many
are there Scrintural references? In every
one OF the thirty-seven. 4 careful study
furnishes the pot thirty-one quotations
or references; Psalms, fifty-nine; Proverbs,
thirtv-tive; Isaiah. twenty-one; Matthew.
sixty; Luke thirty: Romans, twenty
three Nc- i this exceptional. 4 schol-
ariy american author has declared that it
Is as impossible 10 subtract the Bible from
oar moucrn English literature as ito un-
braid the sunbcams or subtract the yel.
low or violet rays from the tides OF hight
tina: ill the SOAR 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 Bib.e 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 lioht we view the
B!b,e. whether with reference to revela-
tion or history or morality, it is n inc
of knowledge, like which none other has
ever been found in any land or any
realm" No wonder that DAME! 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 e!oQIently ex-
claimed: Il would have 'ihe 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. It's
savings OF consolation and wisdom and
universal truth" Truly this Book OF
books must be the Book OF God.
But we have a higher proof OF BIB lcal
inspiration even than this, and that is
the perfect adaptness OF tie Word OF God
to the conditions OF all classes and kinds
of men. DR.. Storrs well says: The
treatise of Plato on immortality is attrac-
tive to the scholar. but obscure and dull to
the un.ettered man; the Veda OF the Hin
dus is. as whole. unintelligibie; the Kor-
an is said to be a sealed book to the ma
iority o. is constituents. In contrast to
all these. the Bible fills the whole cir
cumicrence OF mans endowment; 1t
touches every thought and feeling in this
great humanity: it is adapted to inspire
sage. to instruct tho savage, to guide the
child Truly, this is universal book,
answering mans deepest questions. SOW
ing mans most intricate problems, IL
lurlinating mans most darkest hours. CIV
ing him support in life, peace in death,
''-S, ha