The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-02-26
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY %, 1905.
,rl,a Men and the Bible.

5,rhe annual report Of the State l1Xecu-
"A live ,Comn1itteo OF the Young Mems Chris-
tian Association shows Il total member
ship OF s.s12, and number enrolled lied. N l5lolo
81 classes. 1892.
In a. religious way, the4mos hopeful
sign OF tho times is tho large Tendance
Ri Of men upon Bible classes. From 9 y nat q !
II We can learn there are in the city OF
I Richmond to-day more men studying the
Bible than ever before In our history tt'r
almost every church has its mems Bi it
\ class, some of the classes numbering
Siione hundred and more. There Is one COM
paratively small church in g Richmond
which has two mems Bible classes, one
with membership of more than hum
dred. and the other with a members hip 81
more than seventy-fl Ave, IN another church
4 the mems Bible class has grown 50 rap
idly that It was necessary to enlarge the IN
room In which the meetings ire held. For
Il years the movement was Of slow growth
hut at this time is rapidly spreading
81 throughout 1, the entire community, and
&there8is talk among some of the teachers
Of rganzing a sort OF co-ope rative move
nent among all the Bible classes of the
various churches, The idea is to bring to-
eether every now and then the members
Of neighboring Bible classes, and finally
TO have mass meeting In the city, to.
4 he attended ny all men who are Inter
ested III the study Of the Bible. n:
I'VE of Richmond have been talking a
great deal about public morals and civic
righteousness, and the preachers have
from time to time complained that 1T
was difficult to bring men TO church and
Interest them in the subject Of religion.
II But wo know Of no ono thing that Will
so surely promote public morals and civic
Righteousness and increase the attend
nnce of men upon church services and In
terest them In religious work, as to get
the men of the community to study the
Blple in rcal earnest From whatever
4 point we may view it, the Bible Is a
most fascinating book. We call it "thc
Book OF God,,"Rand properly so, but the
Bible is also intensely human, every
phase of human nature being portrayed
n accurately ana trutnIuily. IL IS Tlcn III
story and romance, in philosophy in sol
cnce and especially in human nature stud
les, 1t Is intt&lsely Interesting on Its hu-
man sldo. 5f3ut when studied in it's .rola-
tion both to God and man; In Its relation
H of God to man and OF man to God it be-
comes necessarily and pre-cmlncntly the
most interesting Of all books, and those
who study II intelligently and. reverently
( will. IN spite OF themselves, become tho
roughly absorbed.
rs But VIC had not started out to write
dissertation on the Blble our purpose is
#& to call attention to this great and impor-
tant movement. and to say to the preach-
FRS and 10 the leaders In the churches
Ind to all who feel a concern for tho up
lift OF humanity, that sentiment in this
community is now ripe for the greatest
religious movement Richmond has ever
known. Only get the men to assemble In
their respective Places every Sunday
morning for Bible research and discus
Il Sion, and the movement will develop and
spread by It's own momentum.