Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1932-12-29
Morgan

i gospel did not come to light until
the close of the first century. For
many years after the epistles and
j gospels were written. the knowledge
of them was confined to the church
es to which they were addressed
When Peter and Paul and the other
apostles would establish the church
in various countries, they would or
dain priests and bishops, then NOV
ed on elsewhere to establish a
church. Sometimes dispute would
arise about question of doctrine
or discipline and the authorities
would appeal to Peter or Paul for a
settlement of the point at issue.
| hence the letters known as the epis-
ties to the Romans, Corinthians,
Thessalonions, Hebrews, Galatians,
ETC.
1t was four hundred years before
the church framed the Canon Of
Scripture, and compiled the Bible
as we now have it and declared it
! to be the genuine word of God And
/ remember this was the golden age
of Christianity! The most perfect
Christians, the martyrs, lived and
died and went to heaven before the
most important parts Of the scrip
lures were written. Millions died
in the odor Of sanctity. The church
was already actively and zealously
engaged in Christianizing and civ
| ilizing theN nations throughout the
entire Greco Roman empire, as well
| as instructing numerous barbarian
| tribes living beyond the limits of
civilization, twenty years before the
| first book Of the New Testament was
| written, and for more than sixty
years before the last book was writ
! ten. and for three hundred years
before the books were collected and
catalogued, and made known, and
before the Bible in compact book
form was available to one out of
ten thousand people, and for four
teen hundred years before the in
vention of printing, which made the
Bible generally available for the
| first time. So by this, we see that
the Bible has a place in the Chris
tian church, but not an essential
place. A place, but subordinate
place, subordinate to the church
and coordinate with divine tradi-
ton, of which after all, scripture is
a part, which simply contains in
writing those doctrines which the
church. taught for centuries by word
Of mouth, until the invention of
printing made it possible to dis
tribute the Bible over the world. So
the Bible is great assistance to
the church in facilitating her work,
but is not necessary to the con-
tinuance of her life or to the
spreading of the gospel of truth,
else Christ would have made it an
essential part of her being from
the outset.
When the Israelites went out
from the land of Egypt, they took
away with them according to their
capacity, the learning and culture
of the Pharaohs. Moses says
the scriptures, twas instructed in
all the wisdom of the Egyptians.
What Moses took from Egypt, he
passed on to us through the Old
Testament and the New, through
the Holy Land, Greece, and prin-
cipally Rome, which has been the
chief dispenser of culture and re-
ligion to Europe and through Eur
ope to America So civilization and
culture have passed on from one
country to another. We are heirs
from all ages. we have borrowed
from all lands and all peoples. We
boast of our so-called "Mddern Civ
iliZation,' but civilization is not
modern, it is principally ancient
and medieval.
In literature the Bible did much
for the world There is more elo-
quence in Isaias than in Demos
themes, and for spiritual loftiness
which after all is the supreme aim
of the poets, the Jewish prophets
far surpassed the Greek poets. John
Cowper Powys says, ''The Psalms
remain the most noble and dignified
of all poetic literature. The rarest
spirits of our race will always re-
turn to them, at every epoch in
their lives, for consolation, for sup
port and repose."
Many millions of books have been
written since the compilation of the
Bible, and have nearly all perished
in decay. But, amid this wreck of
ancient literature, the Bible stands
alone, solitary monument like
the. Pyramids Of Egypt on the sur
rounding wastes. This venerable
book has survived the wars and
revolutions and barbaric invasions
of the ages. When the city of Rome
and the surrounding country was
attacked by the barbarians, by the
Goths under Alaric, the Vandals
under Genseric, and the Huns under
Attila, the church rescued the Bible
took it into the cloisters Of her
monasteries, and there her monks,
who are now abused in their graves,
by thoughtless and ignorant peo-
pie, labored and toiled, writing and
copying by hand the sacred volume
thus preserving it for the world and
posterity When one monk died,
another took his place at his post,
watching like faithful sentinel