New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-05-28
Lyman Abbott
Defines What
the Bible Is
"A LIBRARY IN ITSELF
Slxty-six Books Containing
"An That Is Best in the
Literature of an An
Cient People,"


Abbott In THE Outlook"
Inc Bible is not book II is a library
cl slxty-six different books. written in IFS
resent form by forty or fifty different
writers. but contributed to by many more
It's earliest book-the Book Of the Cove.
nant. contained in the present hook q,
| EXodus-was written ten or twelve cen,u.
ries before Christ the Gospel of John. one
or the latest. was written at the close of
thy first or the beginning Of the second
century after Christ. Thus for not less
than ten or twelve hundred years was this
library IN process of formation. 1T con-
tains all that Is best in the literature of
an ancient people which has survived the
wrecks OF time In 1t are found history.
| biography. law both political and ecclcsi-
astical. fiction, poetry. drama, practical
ethics. practical theology Art, music and
science are conspicuously absent. as is
philosophy except in the latter portion of
the New Testament. where it is philosophy
Used for practical purposes and applied to
III actiCal problems.
TO specify more in detail Genesis con-
tains the prehistoric traditions of this peo-
pie. rewritten by an unknown prophet.
probably a an introduction 10 the collec-
ticn: the next four books are collection
OF the laws of this people as they were
gradually formed during period of centu-
ries Of their national life the books Of
history which follow are compilations from
rre-eXisting materials. and il is possible
now 10 distinguish to some extent these
naterials-the difference between two chief
sources Of the compilation coming out
clearly in the parallel but independent mar
natives of Kings and Chronicles Job is
v hat Professor Genung has well called it,
an Epic of the Inner Life; the Psalms
are collection of religious hymns some
of which were used In the Temple service
others in the synagogucs still others for
private devotion Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
are books of ethical culture which almost
entirely ignore both the theological doc
trines and the ecclesiastical institutions of
the people; the Song of Songs is love
drama. one Of the earliest as il is one Of
the most beautiful I'm the worlds literature;
and the prophetic books which follow are
collections Of addresses which may be com
Pared to the political addresses of the mod
ern moral reformers and the sermons OF
the modern practical preachers.
The New Testament contains four biog-
raphies of Jesus of Nazareth. largely COM
piled from previous oral and documentary
material; history of the beginning of the
apostolic churches; letters from evangelsts
&c the infant churches. and a book of dream
literature written to encourage faith and
hope in the Church in period Of bitter
persecution. But they are all, from the
first chapter of Genesis 10 the last chapter
of Revelation, records of human expert
ences They are written. not by amanuen-
ses inscribing al dictatlon something which
they could not have learned except by mir
aculous information. but by men OF like
ia ssions a : we ourselves are. writing down
what they have seen and felt and writing
II down that their readers may see and feel
the same life truths. The Bible is II
hrary of Enthusiastically human expert
ences.
What makes il a religious library is that
these are experiences of divine companion
ship. A certain common life linked togeth-
or these men of such widely different tenn
treatments and living in widely different
epochs They saw that God is in His world
and they wrote for the purpose of telling
others what and whom they had seen. Their
message. uttered in such different forms
-
manuel. God with us. our Great Companion
Their writings are a revelation because
they are a revealing-that is. an unveiling
of God in human life.
The moral law is not the edict of a
King or the statutes Of a legislature, but
the laws Of conscience interpreted by
prophets who heard in conscience the voice
of the Eternal. The ecclesiastical law IS
not a series of canons made by priests for
the benefit of church, but methods devised
or adapted by the Church as appropriate
expressions. for that time. of human OK
eriences Of penitence, praise and conse-
Grafton. The history is not history Of
great kings or a great people, but Of God
dealing with the kings and with the people
The poetry. the fiction and the drama are
not written for entertainment. They are
written TO manifest 10 men through the
fancy. the Imagination and the emotions
the God who walks unseen by our side n
Friend and Helper a. well as a Lawglver.
The writer's ON ethical culture base their
fundamental maxims on their conviction OF
the truth that righteousness in world
governed by righteous God is the only
true wisdom. And the great preachers or
social and personal righteousness base all
their instructions on the same clear vision
e the presence Of a God with whom the
soul and with whom the community must
be i'm harmon IL il is TO be al peace with
Itself
."The value Of the Bible does not depend
on the question whether the axehead swan
in the water o. the big fish swallowed
Jonah. or the dcluge was universal, or the
=, ,rld WAS made in six DAYS or the first
man was perfect. though all his descend
ants have been imperfect II depends on
the question whether in their messages
these Interpreters Of human experience.
personal and social. have interpreted IL tru-
Is. q message which may be briefly stated
az follows
There is one Cod He is righteous
person who demands righteousness Of His
children. and who demands nothing more
and will accept nothing less, who is their
friend and companion; who Will help them
70 be righteous If they are willing 10 ac-
cent His help. who does not treasure UP
their transgressions against them. but par
dons ana absolVes them If they truly re-
pent and helps them, when they have fall
en-. TO get upon their feet again He lives
with them and in them. and He has Illus
trated what companionship with Him means
by the life and character Of the men who
have lived IN that companionship, and pre-
emnently by the life and character Of
Jesus of Nazareth. who at once reveals
| that is. unyeils-to them what God is and
what men can become"
=