Deming graphic. (Deming, N.M.) 1903-1948, 1916-11-17

sermon ON, 1.-THE Bible as a Great
Factor in Civilization delivered IN
his special visit to st. I.uke's church
in this city:
Text: 2 Peter iii: 2E"Thst We
might he mindful of the words, which
were spoken before, BY the holy pro-
phets."
The world is full Of books, and
'.of the writing of books there is NJ
end"
In the British Museum there arr
some three million volumes, and in the
library of Paris, four millions: yet
among the written books Of mankind
there is only one whose lustre time
has never furnished, whose editions.
instead Of decreasing, are ever in
creasing. whose transactions are
well nigh commensurate with every
tongue. dialect. aud language of the
human family and whose hold on the
interests of high and low, learned and
underlined. Is now. after nearly two
thousand years of publication strong
or than ever before. refer, of
course. 10 the Holy Bible.
N,w while il j. true that Christian
~ j. neither the product Of Book.
nor dependent upou any written rec
ord, because Christianity Is Christ
front whom lis power and cdurins
character are derived. yet il l. also
true thai in the Bible We have nm in
-irumcni that has given Christianity
n larger part of it, attractive force
among the nations of the world.
Since the invention of the printing
press the Bible ha.. been sent forth
IN ever increasing force IN ever in
crcasing volume Ia various peoples
of the earth. and enlightened by its
truths and teachings. men have
thrown aside ancient tyrannies and
dc.potlsm- aud have set up IN their
pac.. constitutions and charters Of
liberty aud free government. F"'l
i-h and ignorant -uper>iiiions. wi,h
ihcir cruel fanatici-m~ have given
away To the better things. in the light
of q fuller understanding which The
reading of the Holy Scripture ha,
she'd upon human life, ard every
wher, have laid hold of higher ideals
aud standards Of righteousness No
wonder il j. then, that We had today
great -ociciies of men aud women ac
tive in the patriotic effort of circue',-
iug This instrument of human int
provement The English Bible Soci-
ETY. sends out some seven million cop
ics OF the Bible every year and mn
hons of Bibles ARE being distributed
onnny the soldiers THE warning mr.
lions of Europe.
Cur American Bible Soriety put,
forth some three million colnes an
uually. And the people who give
their time and money for the support
of such distribution truly feel that
they have had an important share of
helping om the civilization OF III.
world in its best .cnss. For no i'm
migrant who lands on our shore to
find liberty and civilization ran learn
ha; liberty aud civilization mean
better than by trying to understand
principles set forth in the Sacred
Book. which lies ut the root Of insti-
tuiions of freedom and human rights.
How interviewer with our Anglo Sax
an civilization the Bible has become
IAN be appreciated in the fact that
scarcely an important speech is made
IN the halls of congress or parliament
without reference to or quotations
from the Scriptures. Scarcely a
serious book j. written IN the English
language upon any vital question of
day which does not seek Ia strength
en- IT, argument by citing the Bible
~ authority. The philosopher com
mand- our attention by seeking the
Bible for the mother principles that
can unity isolated facts and organ.
ize them into systems of thought.
The poet seeks in the same source
the inspiration for his songs and Tyr
ic~. Think of the greatest poets OF
our language, Milton, Tennyson,
Wordsworth, Longfellow, how emas-
culated must their poetry be without
the evident scriptural content from
which they derive their spirit and
deepest meaning. Some one has
computed that in Tennyson's poems
alone there are three hundred scrip
iaral quotations.
Think of great essayist like
Carlisle telling us that he wrote
The French Revolution and Gle
roe- and Hero Worship" in order to
a. Is..l. :. - LII -. III