Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-19
An Old Book For the
NeW Times
The international Sunday September Fl
The Scriptures" Psalm 197-14; 119:916; 81; los
Acts 17:10-12; Timothy s:14-17: Hebrews 1912.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS

/ sensibly than by following the clear
directions laid down in the inspired
pages of Holy Writ. If all the peo-
pie who are reading books upon
social problems, books upon unrest.
were to take to reading the Book
which makes plain Gods will and
mans duty there would be an imme-
diate and perceptible lessening of
the days strain. For the nearer we
come to the mind of God the closer
we get to the welfare of man.
Rabbits Foot or Bible
AS some men carry a rabbits foot
for luck, so others keep a Bible in
their house or in their trunk. 1t is
a matter or superstition. My friend
at Bergen regarded his Bible some
what as a talisman. This attitude
of fetch worship, as applied to the
rather than intelligent use, marks
some persons attitude toward the
Book that was written to be read
and to be understood.
Never so clearly as now have I
personally realized what a placebook
the Bible is. Lately, I have been
reading the Book of Exodus while
encamped on Mt Sinai: and it is
more illuminating than a guide book.
l have read the Passover story in
Egypt; then the Ten Commandments
and their story while seated on the
top of the Mountain of the Law,
where Moses received them. On the
BOSOM OF Lake Galilee have recall
! ed the words of life which Jesus
spoke there; and beside the green
slopes of the Mount of Beatitudes I
nave unused upon the application of
Chrsts kingdom platform to our
times. Standing on the very stones
OF the porch of the synagogue at
Capernaum where the Master Him.
self stood and looked out over the
lake that he loved. have conned
the place of that now-ruined city IL
his life and teachings. Upon the
Mt OF Olives, beneath a flooding
PASSOVER moon, have gazed .upor.
Jerusalem and quoted his tragic
words. '...'
What a Traveller Saw
Travelling as have been this
ear, to and fro over Bible lands
from Egypt to Damascus and Tarsus
and lconium and Thessalonica and
Athens and orinth and Rome and
Patmos-I have had a new sense of
the geographical character of the
Bible. 1t was written by real men
to real people who lived upon real
earth. at spots which anyone may
visit. Somebody has called the Holy
Land the fifth Gospel" so perfect
ly does it corroborate the written
text Reality is a quality of the
scriptures beyond any other book
ever written.
And when one examines, as it has
been my privilege to do, ancient
copies of Holy Writ, toilsomely and
beautifully created by consecrated
hands of monks and scholars, in the
lar away centuries which were al
most thousand years nearer to the
times of Jesus than they are to our
own day, the vitality of this book
grips ones imagination. With my
own hands I have handled a fourth
century copy of the Bible. There
are later, but still very ancient man
uscript copies of the Bible in the IL
brary Of the Monastery of st. Cath
crime, on Mt. Sinai. The romantic
Of the Bible throughout the ages is
one too often neglected by religious
teachers.
Living, and Making Alive
Moody used to say, with his rug
ged common sense, II know that
the Bible is inspired, because it in
spires me-" Only life can impart
life. Because this Book is living, in
a sense true of no other, it makes
human spirits to live again. In
larger sense than ever the Palmist
meant, The entrance of thy word
giveth light
liberty comes-political liberty, as
well, as intellectual and spiritual
liberty. No Bible-studying people
have remained long complacent un-
der despotism: the present-day case
of the Korean Christians is in point.
Nor has any Bible-studying people
ever given way to anarchy or radi-
cal socialism. Russia had a Church,
but the people had no Bible: there
fore the present excesses. The Mol
okans, or Bible-reading Christians
in Russia, have developed a type OF
character sturdier. and saner than
their neighbors.
AS a safeguard to society, against
spoliation, oppression, class hatred,
and lawlessness in high or low
places there is nothing to equal the
Thus said the Lord" People who
are loyal to- Gods word are never
disloyal to one another. Sterling
character, with strong convictions,
such as our times seem to lack, arc
the result of reverent knowledge
of the Book divine.
President Wilson wrote, upon this
point, for the flyleaf of the Bibles
to be distributed to service men, the
following message:
"The Bible is the word of life.
beg that you will read it and find
this out for yourselves-read, not
little snatches here and there, but
long passages that will really be the
road to the heart of it. You will
find it full of real men and women
not only but also of the things You
have wondered about and been trou-
bled about all your life, as mer
have been always, and the more you
read the more it will become PLAIN
to you what things are worth while
and what are not, what things make
men happy.-loyalty, right dealing,
speaking the truth, readiness to
give everything for what they think
their duty, and most of all, the wish
that they may have the approval of
the Christ. who gave everything for
them-and the things that are
guaranteed to make men unhappy.
-selfishness. cowardice, greed, and
everything that is low and mean.
When you have read the Bible you
will know that it is the Word OF
God because you will have found it
the key to your own heart, your own
happiness, and your own duty"
Lemoyne Student IS