The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-01-26
HOW TO READ THE BIBLE.
(Selected for The Times Dispatch. }

"How readest thoug'-Luke x. 20.
Few people read the Bible. Many
make a charm of it; Others. approach
it along false lines. How readest
thou?" Do you merely glance over
chapter and verse as they come. ac-
cepting everything. testing nothing
just reading so many words. but with
out any intelligent respect? Or do
you bring to the study of Gods Word
humble faith and reverent love? Only
with the last comes the blessing.
How readest thou?" Take the
first chapters of Genesis. How many
people have been hindered and upset
by them But those who suffer thus
begin at the wrong point. They would
not read a friends letter as they read
Gods Book. Ask yourself. What is
the vital point? and in that way solve
the whole question. One school sets
up the idea of specific creation: another
the theory of evolution. development
and the whole universe coming out of
some tuft of nre-mist by persistent
force.
But what does the Bible say? God
created" That is all. All that the
Bible wants me to believe is that God
created the heavens and the earth"
AS for the rest. all that will be explained
in due time; we shall have space and
leisure to consider these questions
when we get higher. where day is mas
ter of the night.
How troubled some have been about
the tragedy of Eden, There is only
one fact in all that Eden transaction,
namely: the human heart was tempted
and fell. All history confirms that
truth, and our own hearts bear us wit
ness there. Whatever else may or
may not be, far away stands the grim
and awful fact that the human heart
disobeyed God. ate, and evermore
since has been eating things that are
bad
Let US go to Sinai. ''How readest
thou?" Shall we consider the thunder
and lightning: if Moses wrote the law.
in what language he wrote it; how the
symbols looked to the uninitiated eye?
These are no questions for earnest men
and wrong. And the answer is in the
law. Whoever wrote it. or how. there
it is 1t is written on stones and stars,
on flowers and hearts. This truth lies
at the basis of all secured society;
without it we could not live. You can
not get rid o. Sinai. 1t is in your homes
and in your nurseries in your schools
and places of business; it is the very life
of civilization, the guarantee of prop
erty. the protector of all human life
How readest thou?" Many are
troubled about the wars and destruc-
ton of the Canaanites and the other
races. The key to the whole problem
lies in the fact that God is wisdom and
love He is planning the best possible
for every man, woman and child, as lie
works His mighty scheme Yea, when
He whets His glittering sword, and His
hand takes hold of judgment, even
then God is love. We cannot tell all the
mystery of the action of love; it has
side marked by Christening. discipline,
trial, loss. Our God is a consuming FIRE,
but at the last it will be found He has
consumed nothing that could possibly
be saved.
At the cross. How readest thou?'
How many theories there are what
argument What theological meta
physics There is but one meaning in
that sublime tragedy on Calvary. BY
it the world is redeemed. not with cor
ruptible things, as of silver aud gold,
but with the precious blood of Jesus.
the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. PLATE wrote his sentence
in Hebrew and Greek and Latin, but
above that superscription was written
the one true meaning-God so loved the
world that He did this: He died for it
How resdest thou. finally. respecting
the resurrection2 Volumes have been
written on this subject Yet the whole
doctrine is in one iine-we shall not
die. There is a power more mighty than
death, for Jesus has conquered it and
the grave
Thus we believe in creation and in
the law; we believe in Providence. in
redemption. and in the resurrection
None can take away from me the doc
trine that God created the heavens and
the earth. though know not how; the
doctrine that man was tempted and be
came disobedient, though / cannot tell
by what mystery of evil nor can there
be obIiterated for me the distinction
Of right and wrong; thou shalt" and
thou shalt not" find an echo in my
heart: nor the conviction that life is
ruled shaped. directed. inspired. and not
the sport of chance. No man can take
from me tho blessed truth that the
~Ss.d - reSesmed-and so I ask in
triumph: 20 death. where is thy
sting ?"--because I know I shall rise
again. through the power Of Christ. in
the anal conquest OF His life over death.
FOR am persuaded that neither life,
nor death. nor angels. nor principaitties.
nor powers. nor things present, nor
things 20 come. nor height. nor depth.
nor any other creature shall be able TO
separate Us from the love Of God which