Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-06

Many of the worlds greatest and best
men and women were devout students
of the Bible and not a few of them
have attributed their success in life
to a daily study of the inspired word.
They did not read the Bible from a
sense of duty; they studied it because
they found therein that which had for
them a practical value in the affairs of
every day life. For them to search
the Scriptures" was no laborious task.
for it yielded large returns. The time
and effort spent in this way increased
their faith in good and enabled them
to triumph over evil. Their lives are
an enduring monument to the great
good to be derived from the honest,
conscientious study of the Bible.
1t is a complaint frequently uttered
by religious leaders that even among
Christian people the Bible is not stud
led as it should be. Perhaps this SEEM
ing neglect is due in part at least to
the fact that there appears to be so
little in the Bible that has direct appli-
cation to the affairs of the present or
is of any practical value when one is
concerned about the performance of
his daily duties. If such is the case, it
Is because the reader has not gained
the right point of view. The writer's
of the Bible were all practical men,
and many, il not all of them, were noted
for the good works they were able to
perform. In the degree that the reader
gains the proper point of view he viii
be able to make practical application
of the truths recorded in the sacred
book
Christian Science awakens an interest
in the study of the Bible and it is
demonstrated that the honest student
can find much in the inspired word
that will help him in all the affairs of
life. When the student learns from ex-
perience that he is helped by his study
of the Bible he no longer regards it as
duty merely. but it is with pleasure
as well as profit that he devotes him
self to this work. And the more faith q
ful he becomes in his study and the
more consistent he is in. the applica-
tion of what he learns, the more he is
convinced that when the Bible is I'M
derstood it makes plain the way of sal
Yation and aids in the practical solu-
tion of all the problems of life
Men and women have been prompted
by different motives in their study or
reading of the Scriptures. The Bible
has appealed to many as a work of
literature and as such is read with in
terest A few years ago a prominent
"
of the fact that 300 university students
had listened for an hour with eager
attention while a professor read, with
out comment, portions of the English
Bible. A religious periodical declares
that "the old book is still the most faS-
cinating volume extant."
The Bible is not only "the most
fascinating volume extant" but is the
most practical as we'll as when the
underlying Principle, taught therein
from Genesis to Revelation. is discerned
and demonstrated even in small degree.
The real worth of the Bible is not real
lied until its teachings are SO under
stood that they can be, and are, put
into practice. AS a work of literature
it is unsurpassed by anything of an
cient or modern times. For this rea-
son one may read or hear it read with
the greatest degree of satisfac action; but
when one begins to see that the Bible
is philosophical and scientific in it's
teachings, 1t becomes a book Of prac-
teal value to him. He becomes doubly
interested in it's perusal, for he finds
therein that which not only entertains
but helps him as we'll; he finds him
self strengthened for the work of life.
The seeming inconsistencies of the
Bible have no weight with the one who
discerns the underlying Principle of the
inspired word. 1t is not strange that
there should seem to be some incon-
sistencies when it is considered that
the writer's lived in different centuries,
with different surroundings, and wrote
under widely different circumstances.