The Topeka state journal., 1913-05-31
The Man With a Book
Terse Comments for June l. THE
Ideal Christian. VI. His Bible
Study" Deut. 6:1-9
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS

Over the great fireplace in the hall
of the library of Union Theological
seminary, Richmond, is the inscrip-
! ton, There is but one book" The
! quotation, is well known is the ut
terance of Sir Walter Scott when he
| was dying. and asked for the book. -
! Mohammed distinguished Jews and
| Christians as people having "the reIi-
| gion of the book" The Bible is not
! only inwrought with Christian his
! tory, and inscparable from it, but it is
| also vital factor in the life of the in
! diVidual Christian and in the extension
| of the church. The faith that is not
/ founded on the impregnable rock of
/ holy scriptures" as Gladstone called
it, is not sure and living and growing
| faith.
Christianity is more than a phiIo-
| Sophfcal speculation: it is divine
revelation, the mind of the eternal
| made known to mortals through the
| inspired Scriptures.
| Given a Christian who loves the
Bible, and studies it, and we have one
who is ever growing toward that ideal
HE or which Jesus Christ is the ex-
emPlar. For we grow in grace by
growing IN the knowledge of the Lord
They go Gods way who are guided
| by Gods word.
| A dusty Bible is not the possession
OF a spotless Christian
The ideal Christian" must have the
christian ideals; and these are to he
got nowhere except in the inspired
scriptures. vague friendliness to-
W.ru Christianity, and a general NOR
3Ity one may have apart from the
B1bIe, but robust Christian character
! ana that mystic sweet cornnunion,'
with God, are the possession onlv of
! those who mediate upon the word
Whereln God reveals Himself to His
An old familiar series of receipts
LOT .I troubled folk is worth reprinting:
tWenty-seventh Psalm
II your pOcketbook is emDtv read
the thirty-seventh Psalm.
.1 people seem unkind, read the
Il1teenth chapter of St. John
If you are DISCOURAGED about vour
work read the one hundred and TWEEN
ty-sixth Psalm.
IF you are all out of sorts read the
tWeItth chapter of Hebrews
IF you are losing confidence in
men, read the thirteenth chapter of
Corinthians.
IF you can't have your own way in
everything, read the third chapter of
St James"
They who put brains and belief into
Blble study get most of blessing out
of it.
Life needs horizons, and so does
Bible study. 1t is scarcely too much |
to say that the person who has re- |
garded the Bible merely as a collec- |
ton of texts and maxims has failed to |
understand its message. The plain, |
obNlous and reasonable purpose of the |
DOCKS of the Bible is that they should |
be read in their entirety just like any
other books. Who ever supposes that |
PauIs letters 10 the ancient churches
were read piecemeal, one fragrant a |
week. a year or two being consumed |
IN reading the whole? The idea is
absurd. Well, then, let us take those
same letters in the same way, each in
Its completeness, at one sitting. Only |
thus can we get the inspired writer's
message. with its horizons. Instead of
a few verses a day, or in addition
thereto, the Christian should make it
a praceice to read at least one com
plete book of the Bible every week,
and at single sitting.
A few helps to Bible study are
almost Indispensable to the student
who is not familiar with the original
tongues of the Scriptures. or with Bi-
Bile times and lands. a Bible diction
ary, concordance and commentary
are simple, inexpensive library.
The place which the Bible holds in
the business of literature is set forth
by this quotation from The Literary
Digest:
1T is conservatively stated that
more copies of the Bible were sold
last year of any other hundred books
of the world combined. The Oxford
Press turns out 10000 Bibles a week.
The British and Foreign Society prints
the Bible in 400 languages. The head
of one of the great publishing houses
of London stated recently that it had
been impossible for several years for
the house with which he was connect
ed to print Bibles rapidly enough to
supply the demand. 1t was stated that
the Boxer war in China would drive
Bible religion from that empire vet
the iSSue of RibleS China in 1Q10