The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-06-01
II APAGE DEVOTED TO RELIGIOUS MATTERS OF INTEREST

1t Is better than no study, but we will
not get the good out of the Boob
while we take care that we Away.
get somebody else's point of view. L
you want to see the beauty of the
fall days in the woods, get out into
/ them yourself, and open your eyes
/ You book on botany and on birds
/ will help you, but you will do better
with your own two eyes. No book is
of value in Bible study which does
not turn us to the whole Bible with
no bias toward this view or. toward
/ that view.
Fourthly, a Christian must study
the Bible as the Word of God. 1t Is
a book like any other book, but II
| is a book supremacy unlike any other
book. Chrysostom, golden mouthed
orator of the early church. gave the
Bible the name it now bears. Our
word Bible means only Book. of
course. and he declared It ought to
be called The Bible, and so 1t has
been called. There Is no other book
like it. God speaks to us in many
ways, but dearest here. If anyone
asks what evidence there is that 1t
| Is peculiarly the Word of God, let 1t
be answered that enough answer lies
in the Book itself. You may read
son, you may read Browning. you will
find in them no truth that will make
you godlike save such truths as were
first taught here. Not an inspiring
life-forming book since this book was
written that has not been the product
of this book and its influence. It is
the Word of God because 1t makes
cody men, because IT makes God real
to men who were far away from
80
seth verse of this 10th Psalm writ
ten in charcoal on his study wall:
Forever o Lord. Thy word is set
tied in heaven" to remind him that
when he dealt with the Word of God
he was dealing with no ordinary mat
ter. Studying as carefully as we may,
we shall need still to be studying rev.
erently and prayerfully. The sweet
singer prayed, open Thou mine eyes,
that ! may behold wondrous things
out of Thy law" We shall never see
those things with our own vision. If
we are to study this Word of God we
must study It under the teaching of
God. 1t Is not to be debated and
discounted as are the books of a day
IT Is to be studied that we may know
what 1t teaches, not that we may de-
termine whether 1t teaches the truth
/ But, finally, the Christian must
study the Word of God as good for
his own soul. II Is not a book of
history nor of science nor of philoso-
/ ply. Il Is a book of life. 1t is not
/ a good textbook for college classes
unless they are to learn religion from
it. The wise question is. Since this
| Is true which / find here in the Word
of God. what shall ! then do. what
1 shall / then he? Other histories deal
with the relation of man to man;
this history deals with the relation
of God 20 man and of man to God.
Its history Is His story, DIR. Pierson
says. It is book to be studied not
for science and not for archaeology
but for one single purpose-to learn
the will and purpose of God for hu-
man life. All else is incidental. All
other studies serve only to make that
clearer. This Is a book on which a
mans soul grows. Matthew Arnold
said a wise word when he declared
that man can no more do without the
Bible than he can do without food or
drink. Every soul OF man needs it.
A child riding with his mother on q
railroad train noticed the porter
lighting tho lamps in the car in the
middle of the day. "Why does he
do that?" he asked his mother. wait
a minute and you will see" she an
swered Presently, with no warning.
the train dashed into a long, black
tunnel, threading the mountain top.
No time then for lighting the lamps
hut great need for their Hight. In the
dash and roar of our hurrying lives
some Of us are too busy to enter this
Word for its light. In the dark of
the day that Is coming to us all. what
shall we do?
There are three, times when you
want something that will be tonic to
your soul. strength to your heart,
light%to your eyes. Once when you
are looking out upon life. when 1t is
all new to you and in some benefi-
cent day You have realized your
helplessness In the presence of Its
problems. Then when you are in the
midst of the struggle, in the thick of
things, when the very life of you Is
involved, when you are straining to
the last ounce of your, power wheth-
err winningly or losingly. And then
when the end comes suddenly or af-
ter the long warning, and you are
winded in the race. you want some
thing on which you can lay your tired
head. and rest secure of forgiveness
for the past and wait fearlessly for
the future. AS those great crises of
life come, your Emerson brings you
slight aid, your Tennyson. your
browning, brings you comfort and
aid only when he speaks the voice or
this Book. Nothing takes its place in
the need of n soul. I charge you &C
quaint yourself with 1t that you may
be at peace.