The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-31
Eloquent Address on Word of
 God" In Morning
CANNOT BE TRUE IN PART
Calls the Bible Gods Love Letter to Man-Took the CrucIflxlon As His Theme Last
 Night. .<

who has been called to fill the pastorate at the South Highlands Presbyterian church, preached yesterday morning be- fore an audience which taxed the capao- fly of the building,
 He gave the congregation D taste of the old-time religion. and tried to instill in their minds a respect for the Word of God. which he called Gods love letter to man."
 Dr. Plunkett made q beautiful littl talk before reading the scripture lesson, re- calling his past relations with members of the congregation as classmates, and in the struggles of life. and thanking them for the honor of being called to be their pastor. He spoke highly of Dr. Sterling j. Foster, and mentioned their great devo- ton to him.
 Taking his text from the twelfth verse of the fourth chapter of Hebrews, the first clause, 'Hrhe Word of God" he said T want to talk with you for little while about the Bible. This is a sub ject which should interest every one of Us because of the great influence which the book bears on society, on our homes and on our individual lives. No matter what attitude we have held toward it not one of us has failed to share to some degree the benefits of its inhu- enee."
 Declaring that this is a commercial peo- pie, he first put a strictly commercial test showing that last year the American Bible society published 100000 copies, of which SO0,OO0 were sold, and the others distributed, and that on recent careful inquiry, the publishers ali over the Uni ted States have declared that the Bible outseils all other publications. Critics tell us that for method, subject mat ter and style the Bible Is incomparable with any other book. Young gentlemen, I want to tell you that you are not in any degree we'll read in English literature until you are perfectly familiar with the King James version"
 In speaking further of the qualities of the Bible he said that it answers as no other book the great questions of life. Whence am ], why am l, and whither am l tending? It answers up to the great fundamentals of characters, of duty and of destiny. It is the greatest book be- cause, as it's author declares, 1t is the word of God. ,
 Tt is impossible" he declared, that man could rise up from reading these scriptures having noted carefully it's every part, without knowing that 1t came from God. IThe devil could not have written it if he would, he would not if he could
 He then endeavored to put his congrega- tion on guard against the doctrine of lat itudinarianism, which claims that the Bible is not altogether the word of God but that it contains the word of God. He declared that 1t would necessarily follow that the Bible is true only in part 'The sacred books of every religion contain the truth l question if a book has been written since the beginning of time that did not contain some truth. If the Bible is not altogether true, then how are We to test it? In conglomeration, how shall we decide which to take and which to let alone at the peril of our souls? There are multitudes of books which contain in kind nothing but the truth Then is not the Bible the equal of these?'
 Dr. Plunkett pictured the passage through the valley of life and coming to a bridge which leads to eternity man stands by who says, My friend, that bridge is partly safe, but there are rot ten blanks, and if you do not step on the sound blanks you may fall through to the pit of death.
 "If the Bible is not altogether the word of God, then my trust In the Bible is gone," and then, holding up the book he how gone up in flame because of their belief that you were the word of God. If mod ern investigation has uprooted my conh- dence in you, then goodby old book.
 Truly, Moses wrote the Pentateuch, but it was the spirit of the Almighty that guided his pen. True enough David sang the Psalms, but it was the vision of tho Almighty God that moved his spirit to music It was the spirit of God which revealed the vision to John. We must say, I accept it all it's doctrines, duties, precepts, promises. all that is hard to be understood, and all that is so plain that even fool can understand
 The speaker then gave up several min utes to a brief outline of the general con- tents of the Bible, the history of mans fall Gods redemption, and the possi- blity of his ascent into heaven to be heir of God.
 What of it?" he asked. First, let us respect the faith of others even if We haven't faith ourselves. Disrespect is neither learned nor smart nor strong. I warn you all that word or attitude that ruts contempt on that book may cause you ruin, may put you in danger of eternal damnation.''
 Then he put what he called an honest tD Dt. You business men are far more fa- miliar with the pages of your ledger than with this book. You medical men are far more familiar with your text books than with this book. We should study it systematically. prayerfully searching the scriptures, for if they are the words of God we ought to love them as He loved us
 Amid the sorrows and conflicts of life I bring you back the pillow of rest on which many weary hearts have laid down and found repose, which has been the guide of many a life, the strength of man, the polar star of many ship, the fiow of glory as 1t passed out of the anchor age of life into the broad pillows of His love. The Bible, is Gods love letter 10 man.
 A large congregation attended the ser- vices at the South Highlands Presbyterian church last night, when Dr. Plunkert again conducted the services and