The Washington herald., 1909-07-10

still rare enough-a community Of open
refreshing to the itinerant apostle this
musI have been Accustomed TO preju-
dice and blind secterianism. il was a 10y
to him TO ind city where the people
wanted TO know the truth The fadeless
record OF the Bereans is Now these
were more noble than those in Thessa-
| lonica- in that they received the WCrd
I with all readiness Of mind, examining
the Scriptures daily whether these things
were So" The synagogue constituency
set earnestly to work to prove the new
teachers statement by their sacred writ
ings.
That Berean trait is the modern tend
ency. This is the Bible-studying age,
There are probably more popular Bible
classes to-day than ever before in the
worlds history-Bible classes OF men. OF
women. OF young people. Of college stu
dents, or workingmen. Everywhere. at
al times, we may find men and women
/ turning to the study Of the Scriptures.
Also there never were so many earnest
theologians at work as there are to-day.
Learned men arc giving their best
thought TO a close scrutiny OF these
sacred pages.
In the realms OF theology. however, an
observer finds a tendency at work which
has in 1t seeds OF great evil The old
Berean attitude Of reverence for the
Scriptures is absent from many OF the
theological studies The new scholastic
attitude is not one Of reverence A man
goes az the Bible with the air OF one
who says, My surmise and my interpre-
tation are quite as good as yours" For
the authority OF the inspired word there
Is now tendency 10 substitute the
authority OF some respected German. We
hear Harnack, and Weuhausen and Rtts-
chi quoted with more Difference than we
hear the Apostle Paul or the historian
Luke. This IS the peril and the madness
or modern progressive theology. Let
men study as deeply and range as widely
as they will. That is the debt which
scholarship owes 10 the Bible. but let
them keep sense Of proportion and a
reverent mind. The theological world OF
to-day is hlled with the clamor Of con-
hicung and strident voices. Scripture
agrees with itself. but these theoloEfcal
savants do not. Each discredits the
other and the bewildercd student quickly
finds himself at sea
BOOK FOR PLAIN PEOPLE
Beyond all other writings, the Scrip
lures have the peculiar quality Of being
plain 10 the mind OF the earnest every
day man. Simple faith can often appre-
herd what IS clouded to the theologian.
God Is his own interpreter, and He win
make It plain" IN this unique book the
reverent heart may search and ind treas
ures OF wisdom. Even more; this book
imparts lie A myriad OF witnesses tes-
ufy 70 It In every mission land there
are converts whose characters have been
transformed by reading this sacred VOL
ume
No other book so carries its power into
all translatiOns Shakespeare ceases 10
be Shakespeare when taken out OF Eng
hsh. But in the more than five hundred
translatiOns OF the Bible which the
world is to-day studying. varying. OF
course, in their fidelity 20 the original
there still remains this same vital faculty
CT inparting a divine 1<e 10 the reader.
That is why the study IN the Sunday
school Is OF more Importance 10 the
church than the study IN the theological
seminary The latter may produce Dar-
ties and schools, but the reverent study
Of the word OF God BY the plain peoDle
produces newness OF life and holiness OF
conduct The Berean method is a meth
od for all times and for all who would
know the mind OF God.