The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-06-01
THE VIRCINIANS WEEKLY SERMON
The Christian Study of the Bible
by CLELAND n. McAFEE, ID. ID.

pleasure in its study. Courses of
Study are valuable. Let one of them
cover the great, outstanding facts OF
the Bible, such a course as viii give
any student n view of the whole book,
so that at the end OF the winter, he
will know the trend of history and
teaching in a broad way from begin
ming to end of the Bible. Does not
such a course seem attractive to you!
If you feel that you have such knowl-
edge already then a course of study
OF the life of Christ getting the facts
well arranged in mind, and securing
an orderly notion of the work He did
on earth. Or another course on the
first history of the church as shown
In the Acts and the Epistles. Or a
course in the Epistles. their meaning.
their outline, their meaning for the
present day. Or a course in the Old
Testament characters, familiar from
your childhood. but not well set In
the history of redemption. AS to
method, that is very simple. Each
person will choose what he thinks best
for him to pursue. Then those Of like
mind Will be grouped by skies or
Fights or ten, and these will agree
on time and place of meeting, once
each week or once fortnight as they
HAY AtSiIt. ltfS Wlii bt ACtd WiiaN
books are best fer the study, and they
will proceed without any teacher but
themselves. Such things are not to
take the place of Sunday school
classes, but to supplement the work
they are doing. The time required
will be a few intense minutes each
day, and such meeting as may be
counted best by those who are con-
cerned 1t IL an elastic system. 1t
requires six to make 1t successful. 1t
provides for six hundred as easily.
1t will be quite impossible to find a
time when the whole church can drop
other things and give time to this,
but perhaps we can agree, SO far as
is fair to other things, that Monday
evening or Saturday evening shall be
quietly reserved for this, at least as
regards public church matters. In
this, as in all, the system must be
elastic enough to fit the needs OF a
growing church.
In this way every one of us may
learn how to study the Bible and
find in it the things of which our
leaders speak. Whether in this way
or not, whoever seeks to know the
will of God as taught in the Book
may well heed Ave suggestions regard
ing the study OF the Bible.
The first Is. that there must be real
study. The Bible is a book that bears
rapid reading. 1t Is refreshing to
read a book or an epistle through at
sitting. You can read the sermon
on the mount through quite deliber-
ately in twenty minutes. I am glad to
have been under a duty in my early
ministry whereby / read the Bible
through every year for twelve years.
There is an element of real study in
that method of reading. But the Bible
calls for that careful, minute atten-
ton which we give to most vital
things Mr.. Roosevelt made an i'm
portant plea when he said, I'VE plead
for a closer and a deeper and a wider
study OF the Bible, so that our PEG
pie may be in fact as well as in
theory. doors of the word and not
hearers only" The very best things
in the Bible are not gotten casually.
They are the result of patient porting
over 1t. Men come to you and speak
of the meaning of this and that part
of the Word, and you wish you could
see all that in it We can all see Il
as they do If we will seek it as they
do. Most of us would like some of
the gold from Alaska, but gold is not
easy to get. God has not left II
partly its depth that makes 1t so
precious. There is much truth which
lies on the surface of the Bible, any
body can pick 1t up. There is other
truth. and that the finest. which you
must get by digging of have some one
bring to you who has been digging.
No book repays study as this one
does. 1t is inexhaustible. The judg-
ments of God are great deep, and
there Is room to dive deep in them
All Southerners will recognize the
name Of DIR. j. X, Breckenridge as
that of man of learning and influ-
ence. There was no egotism in his
saying. that there was probably no
book in existence which he could not,
If he undertook it. master as 20 Ian
guage and meaning in one year. but
he declared he had studied the Bible
daily for thirtyfive YEARS., and found
something new in 1t every day. We
may not expect to get the best ont
OF the Bible with no honest, earnest
effort
Secondly, there needs to be the
study of the whole Bible. 1t Is apaz-
ing how many vagaries and follies get
their support from the Bible. AL
most any fancy will come to light
trailing a string of Scripture verses
after IT, That Is tribute to the pro-
fusion of meaning in Scripture, but
these vagaries come from picking out
one verse here and another there.
overlooking the setting of the verso
and warping. the manifest purpose OF
that verse, not comparing Scripture
with Scripture. or one particular
popular notion of our day, l hear it
often said that its adherents are the
most persistent Bible students there
are. Yes, of parts Of the Bible. with
careful omission OF some parts, with
such bland overlooking of contexts
as gives an utterly new meaning to
the texts That Is the way with most
religious fads. They are well but
tressed with verses, but they are ig-
norant of the Scripture itself. There
are few safeguards against such nom
sense SO good as the careful reading
and study Of the whole Bible. Taken
SO, 1t yields only well-baianced sys-
tenn of truth Taken without conti-
nujty. with forgetfulness of the set
ting of truth, 1t may yield and num-
Der of absurd results. If we hope to
know the Word of God, we must see
to il that We know the whole Word
of God.
Thirdly, it is important that
Christian study the Bible itself. not
simply books about 1t, or opinions
concerning it. There are great ques-