The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-01-13
MODERN VIEW Of
Old TESTAMENT
Continued from Page one.1
The sermon is as follows:
OLD TESTAMENT TOPICS
I. JESUS WAY.

6
Jesus confronted the religious lead
ers of His nation with these words
and condemned their methods Of Bible
study. Those scribes and Pharisees
loved the letter Of the Old Hebrew
writings. The veriest jot and little
was sacred 10 them as the exact word
of Jehovah. Masses Of comment and
exposition loaded every passage.
Buried beneath this debris of human
expression and opinion lay the living
spirit Of the scriptures. Upon this sit
uation Jesus appeared as the Great
Iconoclast. His sweeping statements
were arrant bIasphen1y 10 His tradi-
tion-bound countrynlen and they made
Him pay the penalty for His holiness.
Today II America the Christian
world faces a situation fully as crit
ical. so far as the scriptures are con-
cerned, as that which Jesus preciFi-
tated. though widely different To
large numbers Of church members and
of other men reared in Christian homes
the Old Testament is practically a
closed book
Single verses. parts Of the Psalms.
Of Isaiah and Job here and there a
passage vital with the undying expert
ence Of some ancient searcher after
truth. are admitted 70 the inner life
and adorn the holy Of holies of the
soul. But when under the stimulus Of
some Bible reading movement or strong
religious appeal conscience forces u
thoughtful consecutive reading. cruel
sentiments and trivial changes Of
mind attributed TO God, irreconciIabIe
historic statements. primitive views OF
nature. books ike Esther AMI Jonah
and Daniel raise such a mental and
spiritual turmoil that a hasty retreat
is beaten towards the safer pastures
Of the Gospels and Epistles. The dis
tress is the product OF a battle in
which one army is modern life and
the other is an inherited tradition.
That tradition is embodied in the
phrase Gods Word applied to the
Bible. This phrase under the teaching
of our fathers came TO mean that every
word, and. in the extreme belief of some,
every Hebrew. vowel point, had been die
tated TO the writer's or transeribers Of
the scriptures by Gods Spirit. To ques-
ton these writings. TO apply to them
the ascertained results of historical
research. Of scientific discovery and o.
textuaI criticism was held to be a sin.
They are sacred, leave them alone.
Practically no one can be found to de-
fend this extreme traditional doctrine
today, but most Of Us have been train
ed in an atmosphere 50 suggestive Of
it that the easiest thing to do with
the Old Testament has been TO neglect
IT,
Yet the Book simply viii not submit to
such a coward subterfuge. 1t refuses to
be let alone. In its influence upon hui
manity the Old Testament is the liter
airy miracle Of the ages. In a very
real sense il made Jesus Christ his
possible. What could do that
ean never die Therefore every honest
soul has got 10 wrestle with the Old
Testament or be false TO his best self. !
TO his own age, to all preceding re-
ligious history and 10 coming time. for
le is too much of a poltroon To make /
the religious contribution which the
next generation has the right TO ex-
pect OF him.
The question then squareIy faces you /
and me-Can the Old Testament be- i
come a living book 10 me, who exult in
the freedom of my age? 1T can
That is the answer of thousands Of
men of modern scholarship How2
TO search for reply to this ques- /
.Fon is the purpose Of this course Of
sermons. The problem for each of Us
IS not how can the Old Testament be
made 20 look 70 rae a. it did 70 my
father, but how can it become vital
n my experience.
AT the outset in this quest we. as
I guiding principle. true TO our re- 3
igion and true 70 The scholarship Of
,ur age Whist shan it be- Years ago 1
faced this question and al length L
he suggestion came Try jesus .
way 7 confess 10 you that 7 began
he investigation proposed by these
words with rafsgfvfrg Jesus lived IN .
IN age as mach ike ours as molten .
bitch favors falling snow. Could any
luwlan. belonging SO truly 10 his time
Is Jesus did. even though he were the
ncaruate Son Of God. be expected To
.hake off the 1rammels Of his day sue
.essfuTIy enough 10 give rule Of Old
Testament study able 70 pass muster
n cur freedou7-Ioving Goth century?
/ was a poser. wasn't II? But II was
worth lacking. 50 7 SET out TO fnd
what Jesus way vas. Let us do IT
ogether This morn fng
IN Jesus life and nation what was
his book which re know as the Old
testament L was not a book at all.
I was a bundle Of parchment rolls.
-he rolls did nor have the names that
,ur Old Testament books bear some
{ them were known by the first word
Thus Genesis was called 'reshith.''
shich means In the beginning. Ex-
,aus eTeIe Sh'moth = Now these
Ire the names and the like These
oils were grouped into three classes
according 70 their estimated sacred
less. In one Of these classes certain
:, that Of the prophets, the rolls were
made 10 correspond roughly IN size.
: - = g = = - = - - - - = - - -
ualieies Of character-aU. al is Of
-od and Cod : Love And this force
Z love is 70 sweep On IN its triumph
nj march and nenarct1ial sway until
II sin and seldshness are destroyed
nd the brotherhood Ct man In love
10 be esta blishe1 n the parliament Of
ian, the federation az the world