New Britain herald., 1926-10-15
DEFENDS BIBLE AS ]. SPIRITUAL UNITY
Rev. TertiuS Van Dyke Hits at
 HaphaZard Reading

A person who attempts to under stand the Bible Is overwhelmed by its variety, according to Rev. Ter tius Van Dyke, of Washington, Conn, who spoke this forenoon and again this afternoon al the annual convention of the Hartford county council Of religious education, at the First Congregational church.
 Nothing is more astounding to the man who begins to study the Bible than the diverse clements of which it is composed" he said. "Like a man who begins 10 examine 2 beautiful landscape he is over whelmed by its variety. Here is no one consistent theory of life de- veloped by one man in brilliant but futile attempt to enclose all truth in his inadequate mind. Here is a colorful pageant of life in its various moods and characters and forms presented by many others, known and unknown.
 Take the matter of time covered in the composition. If we go back to the oral traditions underlying the written form of certain portions of the old Testament, we find our selves about 1900 B. C.-1, ,000 years before Plato was born. When we come down to the latest New Testa- ment writings we are at a date reasonably estimated at 100 A. D.. The range of time during which the Bible was composed includes about 1900 years, in written form possibly 500 years less"
 Speaking of the variety of liter ary forms in the Bible, Rev. Mr.. Van Dyke finds "a believing creed; :" folk lore, story telling, history, He brew poetry, dramatic literature, wisdom literature, oratory and es- say.
 And yet" he continued, de ppite the astounding diversity that even so cursory and incomplete an examination of the Bible reveals, one cannot escape the unity that underlies 1t all" He compared the man studying the Bible for the first time to the man who studies a great landscape. He sees the great variety Of color and form and condition, but somehow he feels that there is, if he may find 1t, a bond that unites the diverse clements.
 Referring to higher criticism, he said: When the Bible is read as & whole the spiritual unity ap- pears plainly. Perhaps the main reason why Bible unity is not properly recognized today is be- cause the higher criticism which deals chiefly with the Bible as literary document is as a common topic of conversation whereas the steady reading of the Bible is not at all popular.
 "One can hardly be expected to believe in the unity of a book which is read in isolated passages and brief snippets quoted by the authors. But of course, the man who has not already found the unity of the Bible beneath it's in- finite variety will hardly be per suaded by having us talk of spIr- itual unity. Well, l am frank to say that the matter of Biblical unity is incapable of definite proof Like the conception of the uni verse 1t is matter of spiritual Judgment
 Tn the second place, there Is the historical thread that runs through the Bible books; 1t tremors In places and even is interrupted in spots. The unity is by no means perfect.
 But 1t seems to me that the strongest indication of the unity of the Bible is in the realm of its spiritual ideals. Despite diversity of authorships, circumstances