Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-02-25

to prove. as an able Jewish write" has noted, that all former respect for the Bible for it's authority as d vine revelation was due in a great measure to the consciousness that i, this authority was based on it's in herent goodness and worth, as tes- ] tified by such sentences as ae 1 law of the Lord is perfect restoring the soul Suffice it to say that For us of today, the value of the Bible must come from itself, from 1ha superiority of it's teachings ana their effectiveness, and not from it's | supposed divine origin.
 The Bible Human and Divine.
 There need be no fear t':at the prestige of the Bible as human work will be less than it's standing as divine revelation. Broadly 1 speaking, one writer is right ill saying that 'the Bible is human and divine" The highest achievements and nob1est aspira. tions of man, his immeasurab1e sup :, eriority over the beasts of the field. and his well-nigh limitless possibil- ities, stamp him and his best pro- auctions as divine. The same writ 1 CT to whom I have already referred and to whom I owe more than one suggestion made use of in this ad l dress, uses Shakespeare to great ad vantage in this connection. Says he: If you like to use the words or press the phrase, say, if yoI please, that the Bible is wholly hu- man; but if it be so, What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason, How infinite in faculty! In action how like an angel! In ap- prehension how like god!" If the Bible be human how divine is mani" e. Montefiore, Truth in Relig- ion," D. B.
 The Pre- -Eminence of the Bible-lts
 Cause.
 elf the Bible is a human work. how does it prove it's superiority over other human works? There are indeed occasional passages in other documents that may be com pared to the Bible ill moral af- fectiveness and religious appeal. But the Bible stands out pre-emi- nent as the literary document par excellence compressing within com profound experiences of the human soul in it's struggle to attain closer communion with God. It deserves to be singled out from all the rest of the worlds storehouses of liter ature for our reverence because it records the most eloquent plea for goodness ever uttered in human language. In it and in it alone is found the inner history of the greatest personalities that have trod upon the earth-the Hebrew prophets; men of spirit; keenly sen sitive to the slightest movement in the pendulum of conduct; deeply susceptible to the fafntest cry of distress; possessed of the fatal gift of foresight or premonition of i'm pending national danger-a gift rare, very rare, yet testified to by history and psychology; men driv- en by divine impulse to preach the truth. however harsh or start ling it appeared; fearless personal ities rousing the people from their snug complacency,' causing the aristocrats and priests to tremble for their positions and kings to quake for their crowns; unique men, approached somewhat in their remarkable experiences by a Joan of Arc, Savanarola, Luther and perhaps few other characters of history; men whose words burn with fervor and power irresistible were uttered. The heritage of tha prophetic books together with the sublime ethics of the laws and in- functions found in the Pentateuch, ! the exquisite religious poetry of the Psalms, the wisdom of the Proverbs, the philosophy of Job and the innumerable other distinguish ing qualities of this vast collection whose cord of kinship is God and goodness. render the Bible pre-emi- . nent religious literary treasury of mankind.'