consists of a number of books, written by a number of men, of various types and temperaments. They wrote at different times, with different objects in view, many times in total ignorance of what others had written, or would write, and with absolutely no intention of making such a book as the Bible. The Bible came up out of the experiences and struggles of eighteen centuries of human life. It gradually evolved through the action of the divine spirit on the religious consciousness of a susceptible people. It is the history of the soul's quest after God. It is God's effort to reveal himself to man and to educate the human soul. It is more a record of what God has done, than said. It contains the plot of a great play. God is standing behind the scenes, and men come on the stage to play their part, and so leave the account of their successes and failures for the information and inspiration of posterity. It is not so much a collection of authoritative statements as a history of the manifestation of God in human life. It is not something foreign to the human mind, nor an exotic in human experience. It is the divine life of God, revealed in human experience, and growing under the showers and sunshine of human struggle. I remark second: The Bible is a book of religion and a manual of morals. It is not a compendium of all knowledge, nor an authority on all subjects. Too often its object has been misunderstood, and its standpoint absolutely ignored. Certainly no book has been so unjustly attacked. Missing its aim, men have blasphemously ridiculed it. Taking it out of its sphere, they have looked on it as a tissue of lies. There have been instances, however, where some came to mock, but discovering its high purpose and beneficient aim, remained to pray. On the contrary, no book has been so foolishly defended. Thinking it an authority on all subjects, men have defended all its utterances on that ground. The Bible was never intended to be a handbook on history, or an authority on science. We do the book more harm than good in trying to defend some of its inaccurate historical and scientific statements. That there are errors of this kind, no man will deny. We can no longer rest the authority of this book on its dates and figures. Nor, was this book ever intended to be an authority on all subjects. Historic and scientific accuracy is not necessary to its moral veracity. A writer might be in error about the movements of the earth or the heavenly bodies, and still be truthful about religious experiences. David's astronomical error about the movements of the sun, in the nineteenth Psalm does not affect the value or the veracity of his moral teaching in the same Psalm. Such errors can be easily explained when once we recognize the object and character of this book. The authors of the Bible were not omniscient and inspiration did not make them infallible. The book itself shows a continual advance, both in knowledge and conduct. Many conceptions, customs, statements and dates must be judged by their date, and considered as defects of early experience and elementary training. The book is vindicated by the soul which animates it, and the perfect goal toward which it is traveling, which is Christ. There are imperfect human elements in it, which no man can ignore. All parts cannot be of equal value and authority. The theory of verbal and plenary inspiration can neither justify nor explain errors in statements or defects in moral standards. In my judgment the value of the book is not destroyed, but enhanced by admitting that it is partly human. The soul of the book is of God, but its body is of man. We are not surprised that the body should have weaknesses and infirmities such as are peculiar to humanity. We would be surprised if it did not have. Nobody doubts the existence and spirituality of the soul because the body may sometimes be frail or even diseased. The treasures of God's thought were given to us in earthen vessels, but the defects of the vessels do not destroy the reality or value of the treasure. I remark third: The value of the Bible lies in its superb instruction in righteousness and in the influence it exerts on religious life and thought. It is the supreme text on righteousness. It stands absolutely alone in the grandeur of its theme and the uniqueness of its treatment. No book in all the world fixes our thought so steadily on the one supreme interest of character. This is the only book which keeps always before us the fundamental fact that the one great concern of every man should be to be right in heart and life. It is true, the principle of righteousness was not always fully understood nor rightly applied as the early records will show. The definition of righteousness in early times would not be our definition at all. In places in the old testament the conception of what was right was very defective. The standard of morality of men like Jacob, David and Solomon was so low that had they lived today they would have either been sent to prison or lynched without trial. The most atrocious crimes of which we can conceive were claimed to have been committed in the name of the Lord. And the writers of some of the old testament books justify the slaughter of the Canaanites on this ground. The ethical standard of the imprecatory psalms is not that of the sermon on the mount. The prayer which David often prayed for the destruction of his enemies, was not the prayer which Christ taught His diciples to pray when He taught them to pray for their enemies. But this book must be taken as a whole, and we must judge its elementary teaching by its maturest conceptions. Its highest moral and intellectual level must be found in Christ. What is not in harmony with His spirit is elementary and obsolete. What does not conform to his ethical standards has been abrogated. The botany of a flower may not be understood until it blooms; and the principle of righteousness was confused and misconstrued until it blossomed in Christ. To any man who wants to know God and right, the Bible is the most valuable book in all the world. It deals with the highest and holiest themes of life. It lifts before the thought the noblest conceptions of God and the highest ideals of human conduct. It points out the bitterness and folly of sin and shows man the joy and value of right living. It traces the path that "slopes through darkness up to God," and beckons man up and on and out to the noblest conceivable destiny. It unveils the face of God as no other book, and invites man to fellowship with his father. It shows the awful darkness and fierce struggles through which men have traveled in their quest after God. It sets the face of the race toward the morning and rings with a triumphant note of wholesome, helpful optimism. It is always traveling toward Christ, its theme and interpreter. He is its soul and its goal. His teaching is its maturest conceptions. His life is its noblest achievement. His redemption is its glorious consummation. No book has shaped life and thought as has the Bible. Literature and history and religion are shot through with its influences. Poets, philosophers, scholars and orators have been fired and armed by its precepts and promises. Art and architecture bear its imprint, and its principles are seen in modern government and jurisprudence. It has always been a source and fountain of noble achievement. It gave Milton his theme for Paradise Lost, it gave Handel his inspiration for his Messiah; it gave Titian his scene for his Transfiguration. It fired the heart of Cromwell in his comflict for liberty. It stirred the soul of Luther in his contest for the reformation, and the era of the reformation, broke forth upon darkened Europe. It inspired the souls and ballasted the faith of our fathers in founding a republic upon American soil. It still stirs the sweetest memories of childhood; it sanctifies the associations of home; it sweetens the relationships of life and points the path to heaven. This is the book, the message of which has gone ringing around the world. This is the book, the light of which is breaking everywhere. "This precious book I'd rather own That e'er in monarchs' coffers shone, And were the seas one chrysolite, And gems were all the stars of night, In glittering hoards of wealth; Gold can not purchase health. And they that seek that book in tears, |