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diff --git a/41520-8.txt b/41520-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index abfd4f2..0000000 --- a/41520-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4992 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bible and Life, by Edwin Holt Hughes - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Bible and Life - -Author: Edwin Holt Hughes - -Release Date: December 1, 2012 [EBook #41520] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLE AND LIFE *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive.) - - - - - - - - - -BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR - - - THANKSGIVING SERMONS 12mo, net, $1.00 - LETTERS ON EVANGELISM 16mo, cloth, 25 cents; - paper, 15 cents - - - - - The Mendenhall Lectures, First Series - Delivered at DePauw University - - - THE BIBLE AND LIFE - - - BY EDWIN HOLT HUGHES - Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church - - - THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN - NEW YORK CINCINNATI - - - - - Copyright, 1915, by - EDWIN HOLT HUGHES - - First Edition printed February, 1915 - Reprinted June, 1915 - - - - -TO CHARLES RAISBECK MAGEE - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - INTRODUCTION 9 - - FOREWORD 11 - - BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 13 - - THE HUMAN OUTLINE 19 - - I. THE BIBLE AND LIFE 21 - - II. THE BIBLE AND MAN 49 - - III. THE BIBLE AND HOME 76 - - IV. THE BIBLE AND EDUCATION 102 - - V. THE BIBLE AND WORK 125 - - VI. THE BIBLE AND WEALTH 151 - - VII. THE BIBLE AND SORROW 185 - - VIII. THE BIBLE AND PRACTICE 213 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -By the courteous invitation of the President, Faculty, and Trustees of -DePauw University, the writer had the privilege of delivering the first -series of lectures under the foundation as endowed by his friend, the Rev. -Marmaduke H. Mendenhall. The following comments are the only introductory -words that need be given. - -The terms of the lectures were kept strictly within the radius of real -life. The author does not claim to be a biblical scholar in any technical -sense. Nor did he deem that the primary need of the students whom he -addressed would be met by a discussion of theories of inspiration or of -dates and authorships. College students have a passion for reality, and -the most convincing apologetic for them is the argument from actual -living. - -Under the instruction of the founder the lectures are to be placed in -permanent form for the students of the University and for the wider -public. The lecturer having been rewarded by the close attention of -hundreds of youthful hearers, the writer will have a still greater reward -if those who heard the words as spoken in Meharry Hall are joined by the -larger company who will listen for the voice of the Spirit in these pages. - -EDWIN HOLT HUGHES. - - - - -THE MENDENHALL LECTURES - -FOREWORD - - -The late Reverend Marmaduke H. Mendenhall, D.D., of the North Indiana -Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, donated to DePauw University -the sum of ten thousand dollars, the purpose and conditions of which gift -are set forth in his bequest as follows: - -The object of this gift is "to found a perpetual lectureship on the -evidences of the Divine Origin of Christianity, to be known as the -Mendenhall Foundation. The income from this fund shall be used for the -support of an Annual Lectureship, the design of which shall be the -exhibition of the proofs, from all sources, of the Divine Origin, -Inspiration, and Authority of the Holy Scriptures. The course of lectures -shall be delivered annually before the University and the public without -any charge for admission. - -"The lecturers shall be chosen by an electing body consisting of the -President of the University, the five senior members of the Faculty of the -College of Liberal Arts, and the President of the Board of Trustees, -subject to the approval of the Board of Bishops of the Methodist -Episcopal Church. The lecturers must be persons of high and wide repute, -of broad and varied scholarship, who firmly adhere to the evangelical -system of Christian faith. The selection of lecturers may be made from the -world of Christian scholarship without regard to denominational divisions. -Each course of lectures is to be published in book form by an eminent -publishing house and sold at cost to the Faculty and students of the -University." - - GEORGE R. GROSE, - _President of DePauw University_. - - - - -BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE - - -Inasmuch as future lecturers on the Mendenhall Foundation may not have had -the privilege of personal acquaintance with the founder, it is doubtless -good that this first volume may record the outlines of his life and -character. Marmaduke H. Mendenhall was born at Guilford, North Carolina, -May 13, 1836. He died at Union City, Indiana, October 9, 1905. He was the -son of Himelius and Priscilla Mendenhall, who, when their son was about -one year old, came northward and settled near Peru, Indiana. Doctor -Mendenhall did not suggest in manner or bearing that he was Southern born. -Had one chosen to judge of his birthplace by the man himself, one would -have said that he was a typical son of New England. His deeper self was -typified by his personal appearance. He was tall, stately, dignified, -serious, earnest. - -He joined the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church -in 1856. Those days were still pioneer, and he entered gladly into the -sacrificial ministry of that period. It is a singular coincidence that he -was doubtless the first minister of his faith to begin work near Union -City, where he closed his earthly labors. It was his privilege, also, to -build the first Methodist Episcopal church in the city where he died. The -history of his ministry shows that he served all classes of -charges--country, city, village, county seat. Several times the record is -dotted with the word "Mission," which would indicate that he frequently -followed the apostolic fashion of building strictly on his own -foundations. He came to a place of leadership in his own Conference. To -the day of his death he was an influential factor in all its plans and -programs. Though he had been technically "superannuated" for sixteen years -prior to his death, his mind kept its full vigor, and his word kept its -full weight. Twice he was elected a reserve delegate to the General -Conference, while in 1880 he was chosen as one of the regular delegates. - -From the beginning of his ministry Dr. Mendenhall showed the signs of a -remarkable mind, and at the end of his ministry he was still manifesting a -keen interest in current questions and in theological problems. His -library to the last was freshened by the purchase of new books. When he -turned his many volumes over to Gammon Theological Seminary that -institution did not receive hundreds of antiquated volumes, but rather a -collection brought down to date and selected by a master judgment. The -intellectual, though suffused at times by a proper and restrained emotion, -was his noticeable characteristic. He was given to thorough analysis. He -was markedly painstaking. Records that he made of the conduct of his -public services indicate that the final details were all regarded, and -that hymns and Scripture lessons were chosen with a view to their bearing -on the instruction of the day. - -Being a vigorous personality, he held his views with strength. He was -keenly loyal to his convictions, whether these related to methods of work -or to statements of doctrine. In his advocacy or in his antagonism he was -always frank and open. His opponent could see him standing out in plain -view, with no effort to protect himself by secrecy. Men could never doubt -his sincerity, however much they might question the correctness of his -positions. He knew no sinuous paths. He was as direct as sunlight, and he -traveled in straight lines. - -In all his spheres of work Dr. Mendenhall made deep and lasting -impressions. Highly intellectual as he was, he was still an excellent -administrator. His business qualifications were signal. Every matter -committed to him was cared for with scrupulous nicety. He left no loose -ends to any of his work. Although his salaries were never large, as -salaries are counted to-day, he secured a comfortable property, and this -in spite of the fact that throughout his lifetime he was a generous -contributor to good causes. - -He served as a trustee of De Pauw University longer than other member of -his Conference had served, up to the time of his death. From 1878 to 1887 -he served in this capacity, while in 1896 he was reelected and was an -active worker on the board up to the end of his life. He aided in pushing -the institution through its crisis. The files of this writer disclose a -careful and helpful correspondence upon matters vital to the welfare of -the University. In the sessions of the board he was always urbane and -conciliatory. He crowned the work of his life by leaving to the University -all of his estate. Upon the increase of the estate to a certain figure, -the income was to be used in founding a lectureship on Revealed Religion, -especially as related to the Holy Bible. - -Although the writer was an intimate friend of Dr. Mendenhall, he cannot -remember any statements made to him which would indicate the founder's -views of inspiration or of the other questions that have made the -biblical problem of the last two decades. But his library showed that he -was fully aware of the modern discussions. Perhaps he felt that a -lectureship, broadly founded and practically directed, would be of special -service to the church in a time of transition. The writer entertains the -conviction that, even though Dr. Mendenhall might not agree fully with all -that is found in the following pages, he would still appreciate the effort -to bring the Bible within its divine purpose as a Book of Life. - -The home of the founder revealed him as a model of courtesy and -kindliness. Friends who saw him by his own fireside noted the benignity -that matched his dignity, the tenderness that equaled his seriousness. -Those who came into the nearer circle of his life regarded him most -highly. To the wife who survives him he was in all ways a helper, gentle -in demeanor and loyally careful in the administration of her interests. As -the writer reviews the drift of these first lectures delivered under this -foundation, he is persuaded that the founder's relation to Himself, to his -Home, to his Work, to his Wealth, to his Pleasure and Sorrow, and -particularly to the cause of Education, is not misrepresented herein. The -Bible was his Book, and its ideals were achieved in his living. It is the -sincere wish that these pages may accomplish somewhat the main purpose of -the founder's heart in making the divine Book a brighter lamp for the -guidance of youth. - - - - -THE HUMAN OUTLINE - - -It may be well to give in human form the outline which will be followed in -these pages. The story is the story of millions of men on as many days. - -A man awoke one morning to the consciousness of himself. Looking about he -saw the familiar sights of his own home, and soon he heard the voices of -his wife and children. Ere long the little people were on their way to -school. The man proceeded to his work, while his wife took up her domestic -duties. He returned in the evening with the proceeds of his day's labor -added to his stock of goods. He partook of the evening meal and then -indulged in the pleasure of "the children's hour." He later called upon a -friend who had met with sorrow and in the trouble of his friend he found a -fresh reminder of his own affliction. He retired in due season to his -slumber and went forth the next morning to make the like round of the day. - -This is a piece of constant biography. It could be duplicated by reference -to many a personal journal and diary. If we analyze the description, we -shall find that the man was driven to take a relation to Himself, to Home, -to Education, to Work, to Wealth, to Pleasure and Sorrow. - -The aim of this book is to state somewhat the bearing that the Bible has -upon these great departments of our human living. The apologetic tests the -Book under the terms of this human outline. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE BIBLE AND LIFE - - -The Bible is a book of power. The man who would deny this statement would -impugn his own intelligence. It is to-day the Book of the strongest -nations. If the strongest nations selected it for their inspiration and -guidance, that fact is significant. If, on the other hand, the Bible has -trained the strongest nations, that fact is more significant. In either -case power is lodged in the Holy Scriptures. The miracle is this: That a -very ancient Book rules a very modern world. - -Various explanations are given. Some men say that the Bible is powerful -because it has been promoted by a powerful organization. But this -explanation needs explaining. How did the Bible secure the aid of this -organization? Why did not the organization take the Dialogues of Plato and -become the evangel of Socrates' splendid wisdom? Why did it elect one -particular volume? And what would have been the effect on its own life if -it had chosen some other book? Would the writings of Marcus Aurelius or of -Seneca, with their high moral grade and their marked religious insight, -have served the holy purpose as effectively? When we attempt to substitute -some other book in the Bible's place, our hesitancy quickly passes on to -positive refusal. The Christian Church, with any other volume as its -textbook, is simply inconceivable. - -Other men will say that the power of the Bible has come from its girding -by a doctrine of authority. This explanation must likewise be explained. -Could a Book without inherent authority be long maintained among -intelligent peoples on the basis of artificial authority? Why is the Bible -the best seller and the greatest worker in those lands where it has been -set free to yield its own message? What is the peculiar quality in the -Book that has saved any theory of its authority from appearing absurd? The -Bible showed its power long before men adopted any theory of its power. -Doubtless the claim of authority has increased the influence of the Book -over certain types of minds. Still it may be confidently asserted that the -claim of authority has depended far more on the power of the Bible than -the power of the Bible has depended on the claim of authority. The effect -should not be allowed to pass itself off as the main cause. - -Nor does the power of the Bible depend upon mere bulk. Shakespeare wrote -enough to make several Bibles. So did Scott. So did Dickens. So did -Parkman. If the Bible is a moral and spiritual Encyclopedia, its material -has been strangely condensed. It is a brief Book, yet out of its small -compass men gather texts for fifty years of preaching and at the close of -their life's task feel that the pages are still exhaustless. The Bible has -inspired literature far beyond its own bulk. It is a small library of -books gathered from many authors, but it has filled great libraries with -commentaries and sermons and discussions. Its brevities have provoked -measureless pages of writing. The world is big, yet it is measurably ruled -by a small Book. - -It would seem likewise that a Book written so long ago would fail of the -element of timeliness. That an old volume should keep its place in a new -century is in itself an anomaly. The last of the Bible was penned hundreds -of years since. Accepting the most radical views as to dates, its youngest -book was produced quite more than a millennium and a half ago. Meanwhile -the world has been making amazing progress. We boast of our achievements -in transportation and communication. All ancient things seem to be -outgrown, save only the Bible. The books that were written as -contemporaries of parts of the great Book have either slipped into -oblivion or are known to-day only by the intellectually elect. The -classics are studied by a small circle of scholars. The average man knows -nothing of Virgil, or Cicero, or Homer, by any direct contact with the -works of those authors. But the Bible, which is out of date by the -calendar, is not out of date by its own meaning. It is singularly -contemporaneous. Its different portions were called forth by passing -events and the Book itself is clearly touched by its own times. For all -that, eternity appears to have lodged itself in its contemporaneousness. -The twentieth century, eager and thrilling as it is, accepts a Guide Book -from the distant years. Roman Law and Greek Art are filtered to the new -age through modern channels. The Bible itself comes to us more simple and -more powerful than any modern interpretations of its messages. There is a -sense in which it declines to apply to itself its own figure of speech -about the new wine in the old bottles. - -The Bible defies geographical distance as well as calendar distance. For -the most part its record relates to what happened in a small and remote -section of the earth. It reaches its climax in an obscure province which -was smaller than many a modern county. The customs of which it tells are -mostly gone. Sandals and tents and camels and parchments are curiosities -in the new lands and new times. Much of the setting of biblical events is -wholly unknown to our day, and so must be reproduced for our children in -pictures and for our adults in descriptions. An Oriental Book is the chief -literature of an Occidental world. - -In spite of its small size, its great age, its cramped geography, its -vivid Orientalism, the Bible keeps its mastery. What is the explanation? - -It must be that the Bible appeals to something fundamental in life itself. -The final test of inspiration must, of course, be found in what the Bible -does for life. A book that is not inspiring cannot be proved to be -inspired. It cannot give what it does not have and it must surely have -received what it gives. It would be a mistake, however, to confuse formal -truthfulness with inspiring vitality. The description of a street scene, -dealing with the passing relations of pedestrians, wagons, trees, birds, -houses; the lengths and widths of sidewalks and streets; the figures of -population; the social status of the various groups--all this may be told -with exact and mathematical truthfulness. It may be correct and still not -be inspired or inspiring. On the other hand, the parable of the prodigal -son is a story which in its precise detail may represent something that -never occurred. But it has impressed the world as both inspired and -inspiring. Its words haunt and pierce and coax and subdue men. This -indicates that a story given for a spiritual purpose shows more essential -truthfulness than does a description given for formal exactness. The -reason is that the parable appeals to something fundamental in life -itself. The son and the father are ever with us. God and his children are -the everlasting facts. The story is more true than is the description. -This contrast represents the biblical trend. The Book penetrates through -the husk to the kernel, through superficial facts to deepest truths, -through passing events to eternal meanings. It is the Book of Life. - -What gives the Bible this appeal? Whence did it secure its vital quality? -The only reply is that the appeal to life must be born of life itself. -Sometimes a bizarre explanation is given of the source of a religious -volume, the assumption being that a human origin denies a divine origin. -The more men have to do with its production, the less may we presume that -God has touched the work. A curious illustration of this viewpoint is -found in the claim for the Book of Mormon. The story is as follows: A -heavenly visitant appeared to Joseph Smith and told him that in a certain -place he would find the miracle book. Smith obeyed the directions and -found in the place named a box of stone. In this box was a volume half a -foot in thickness. It was written on thin plates of gold, and these plates -were bound together by gold rings. The writing was in a strange language, -but with the book was found a pair of miraculous eyeglasses which -conferred the ability to read the pages. In other words the Book of Mormon -was not born of human life under the guidance of the divine life. It was -the product of a straight miracle, and the power to decipher its meaning -came only by miracle. Such a theory of the origin is easy to understand, -even though it may be difficult to believe. It represents the extreme form -of that faith which minimizes the partnership of man with God in the -making of all genuine gospels of life. - -The incarnation was Man and God together. The church is being fashioned by -man and God together; the Spirit and the Bride are colleagues. Worship is -possible only when man and God are together in fellowship. If the Bible -came by any method other than the coworking of man and God, its production -would stand for a departure from the usual divine method. The power of the -Bible, however, grows out of the fact that it is not an abnormal book, -fantastically given to men. There is a humorous story of an old woman who -was discovered in diligent study of the Hebrew alphabet. Asked why at her -age she was beginning to learn so difficult a tongue, she made reply that -when she died she desired to address the Almighty in his own language! -There have been theories of the Bible that are scarcely caricatured by -this tale. If there have been doctrines of the Book that made it the -product of a lonely man, there have likewise been doctrines that made it -the product of a lonely God. Neither doctrine is correct. The Bible grew -out of human life that had been touched and glorified by the divine -presence and power. Because it grew out of life it makes its appeal to its -native element in life itself. It simply claims its own. - -A review of the different parts of the Bible will show how true this -statement is. Practically every book is localized and personalized. -Something that happened among men called forth the writing. The names of -the books in the Pentateuch show this fact. Genesis treats of the origins -of the earth and of man, and is an answer to the inevitable question that -springs in the human mind. Exodus treats of the going forth of the Hebrew -people from their Egyptian bondage. Leviticus is a description and -discussion of the Levitical rules. Deuteronomy is a second giving of the -Law and an enlargement of its sphere as well as an enforcement of its -precepts. The Ten Commandments make a human document because their sole -aim is to ennoble and protect human life. - -It is so with the historical books. They are the records of actual human -living. Their pages are sprinkled with the names of real men and women. -Joshua, the Judges, Ruth, Samuel, the Kings are all there, eager -participants in earth's affairs under the sense of God. These books are -not theoretical dissertations on life by a dreamer in his closet; they are -rather the general descriptions of life itself as it moved along a period -of seven or eight centuries. They give us the salient and meaningful -happenings among God's chosen people. They tell the story of a crude race -as it is being led forward to the heights. The pages record limitations -and faults simply because they tell us of actual life. The sins of the -Bible's premier heroes are written down with entire frankness. The human -touch is everywhere. We shall not read the historical books long ere we -find that they, too, are human documents. But these human documents, -covered with the names of men and women, are likewise covered with the -ever-recurring name of Jehovah. In the record one discovers man and God. - -In the prophetical books the like fact is apparent. The prophets were men -of flesh and blood. They rushed into the prophetic work from the ordinary -occupations of ancient life. From the fields they came, and from the -vineyards. Perhaps one came from a royal palace. Surely not more than one -of them came from the altar of the priesthood. They were men who knew the -shame and glory of contemporary life. They did not hesitate to touch the -politics of their day. They decried kings. They denounced landlords. They -made frontal attacks on all forms of wickedness. Their appeal was for -reality. They declared that God hated all pretense. New moons and feasts -and fasts that did not grow out of devout hearts they declared to be an -insult and an abomination before a righteous God. They talked from life to -life. They came in response to some human demand in their times. They were -not theorists, discussing academic problems of conduct. They were blazing -moral realists. We do not need to detail the list of those forthtellers of -the Word of God. Even the book of Jonah is full of life. Parable, -allegory, history--its descriptions are based in life and its appeal is to -life. In its moral lesson for the individual, and in its missionary lesson -for a narrow race, it offers enough duty to keep life busy for a million -years. If men would heed its lessons for life and cease their petty -debates about the anatomy of whales, the Book would meet them with vital -urgings. The one point now is that the prophetical writings grew out of -life. They did not come encased in stone boxes, written on gold leaves, to -be read and understood only by miraculous spectacles. They came from real -living, and they claim their own wherever real men are living to-day. - -We need not follow the same idea into the later books of the Old -Testament. The Proverbs were gathered from the streets of life. -Ecclesiastes is the pronouncement of life vainly satiated. Even the -Psalms, classed as devotional books, were usually evoked by some actual -happening. The king goes out to war; a psalm is penned. The ark is moved -from one place to another; a psalm is written. A man is jaded and -discouraged; a psalm is written to recover him to a consciousness of the -care of Jehovah. A monarch falls into grievous sin; a psalm is written to -express his penitence. A study of any Commentary on the Psalms will show -us that nearly all of these devotional utterances were prompted by some -human experiences. They are the shoutings and sobbings of living men. The -book of Psalms is not the liturgy of academicians. Its processionals and -its recessionals show actual men and women in the real march of life. - -In the New Testament this same law of life rules. Jesus comes before the -Gospels. Without the Life there could not have been the record of the -Life. In any worthy Bible life must always come first. This phase will be -treated later. Now it must be emphasized that the entire New Testament -sprang from a Life that was lived among men. The Word must become flesh -before it could become literary record. Grace and truth walked the earth -ere they were traced on pages. Here again the Bible comes from life in -order that it may return to life again. - -The statement concerning the New Testament will admit of more detail. The -Gospels grew immediately out of the disciples' life with the Lord. The -Acts grew out of the life of the disciples in their daily contact with -that ancient world. The Epistles all came from some urgency of life. While -there were minor reasons for writing each of them there was still a main -purpose that dictated the writing in every case. The Epistles to the -Thessalonians seek to produce a right attitude toward the doctrine of the -Lord's return. The Epistle to the Romans is a discussion of the doctrine -of justification by faith and the relations of that doctrine to Judaism. -That to the Galatians is both a personal defense of Paul's questioned -apostleship and a declaration of freedom from bondage to the law. The -Philippians grew out of an experience of human kindness, being an -expression of gratitude for help in trouble and sympathy in sorrow. The -Ephesians is a composite of moods--the victories of grace, the hope of the -heavenlies, the expectation of ascension with the glorified Christ, the -nature and aim of the true church. Colossians expresses the universal -Lordship of Christ and tears down every theory that denies the reality of -the incarnation and the utter preeminence of Jesus. - -Even those Epistles that are personal in their character deal with -universal life. Philemon reappeared in the contests concerning slavery -both in England and America and scattered the arguments of Christian -democracy. The bondage of men could not well live with the tender -brotherhood that breathes in the letter which Onesimus carried back with -him to his former master. Titus and Timothy are the pastoral advices sent -by the aged apostle to his younger sons in the faith, while one of the -Epistles is the hopeful farewell to earth and a glad trust toward the -Eternal City. Revelation may be filled with strange imagery and may be -shaken by the tremors of a perilous age; but men who know real life will -say that the Beast and the Lamb are not merely wild figures of speech. The -writer of the Apocalypse knew the world, and he knew the churches in its -various cities. - -Thus it seems literally true that all the New Testament was penned for the -aid of life. When life went wrong, warning came. When life went aright, -encouragement came. When life was mistaken, correction came. Whether the -need was for doctrine, for reproof, or for instruction in righteousness, -God met the need by the message that he gave to his servants. The Book is -not a series of infallible abstractions; it is rather a vital Guide Book -won from the experience of life's ways. The Bible is not a ready-made -product dropped down from heaven; it is rather a Library made by men in -many ages in partnership with the God who lives with men in all ages. In -the best and truest fashion it makes record of the life of God in the -souls of responsive men. Because it came from life it inevitably seeks -life. It was born of God among men. Therefore, it lives among men with -God. - -We may carry the relation of life to the Bible quite beyond this point. -The Bible not only grew from life, but it came back to life for its -testing. Even as there have been theories of the making of the Book that -ignored the element of human living, so have there been theories of the -canon of Scripture that ignored the element of human testing. Years ago a -renowned teacher said to his pupils, "Never go deliberately to work to -make a book. The only volumes worth while are those that grow out of your -deepest life." The advice was good. In a way it suggests the manner of the -Bible's making. There is no evidence whatsoever that any writer of its -pages ever thought that his work would become part of a Bible. No man ever -said, "I will now write a book of the Holy Scripture." Nor did any group -of men assign departments to each other, saying, "We will prepare a divine -Book." The Bible came in no such mechanical way. Written because of life's -needs, as seen in the light of God, it was tested and collected by life's -needs, as seen in that same light. It was once strikingly said that the -words of Jesus were vascular; if you cut them they would bleed. One -shrinks from the metaphor. Yet it presents a truth about the whole Bible. -A Book written by life and selected by life has naturally a message for -life. - -How did the books of the Bible secure their place in the canon? The -romancer offers his tradition here again. We find a very fantastic legend -coming down from medieval times to this effect: In the church at Nicĉa one -day a great mass of religious writing lay in an indiscriminate heap -beneath the altar. A miracle gave an answer to the question as to what -books should secure permanent places in the Holy Book. The First -Ecumenical Conference was in session. The year was 325 A. D. While man -wondered and questioned, God settled the issue. Suddenly the genuine books -were lifted from the mass of volumes and, without visible power, lay on -the sacred table. The writings miraculously declared uncanonical remained -beneath the altar. This theory of selection corresponds to the theory of -dictation. We have in both cases an active God and a passive man. While it -would be unfair to say that this medieval legend has any modern following, -it is true that certain theories of the selection of the canon resemble it -in that they discount the human factor. Even as God and men worked -together in the writing of the books, so God and men worked together in -the binding of the books into their volume of fellowship. Life that -confessed God and tried to do his will chose the books and decreed that -they should dwell in unity. - -As there has been a tendency to overstate the miracle feature in the -selection of the canon, so has there been a tendency to overstate the part -played by the authoritative councils of the church. The assumption has -been that arbitrariness was the chief feature of the whole process. -Certain men met in conference, debated the merits of the several books, -and finally settled by vote what particular writings should have their -place in the Bible of the church. Now while something of this kind did -occur, it is far from the truth to affirm that the councils lacked a -representative capacity. The vote may have been recorded by theologians, -but the vote had previously been determined by the Christian democracy. -Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. His predecessors were -the people. In a dignified sense Lincoln was their clerk, expressing their -will after many years of agitation. The wisdom of the Great Commoner was -shown not only by the personal conviction that he put into the document, -but also by his keen appreciation of the will of the multitude. Though the -parchment of liberty was proclaimed by one man, it is a fact that it was -dictated by many men. Something parallel to this occurred in the selection -of the material of the Bible. Councils played their part; their part, -however, was the part of agents. - -This was true of the Old Testament. Many persons may still have the vision -of Jewish officials with long robes and sober faces deciding the ancient -canon. Indeed, there was for long a tradition that Ezra founded a kind of -Imperial Synagogue which continued for not less than two hundred years -and which in that period finished the collection and authorization of the -Old Testament. This synagogue had various presidents, including Nehemiah. -No such organization for the selection of the Scriptures existed. Accurate -ancient history gives no trace of its work. The work of testing the -writings was slow. The arbiter was life. Life had determined the writing. -Life must now determine the authority. - -We can catch an interesting glimpse into this process by studying for a -moment the story about Josiah, the young king. Hilkiah, the priest, finds -the book of the law. Shaphan carries the book to the king and reads to him -from the ancient lore. The book quickens the royal conscience. God and the -earthly ancestors of Josiah speak to him from the pages. He is made to -feel how far he and his people have gone from the will of Jehovah. He -rends his clothes. He sends for the human voices of the Most High. Huldah, -the prophetess, is the chief instructor. The people are called back to -their allegiance. The land is purged. A manuscript has done all this. It -inspired the king and his people until abominations fled from Israel. The -land continued in obedience until the archers sent King Josiah to his -sepulcher. That portion of the law that had been read to the king by -Shaphan and had then been delivered to the people proved its inspiring -quality in its effects on life. On that day a portion of the Old Testament -canon was selected. - -Doubtless this incident is somewhat typical of a procedure that was more -or less constant. The imperial synagogue was the Jewish people. The debate -that settled issues was the debate of experience. Life was electing its -own books. Words that touched the conscience into an impression of God and -then worked their way outward to the blessing of the multitude were -gaining for themselves the popular vote. Candidates for the canon were -rejected. Other candidates were held in long suspicion. Ecclesiastes, -Proverbs, Esther, Solomon's Song--all these served a long probation ere -they proved themselves worthy of their place. The ancient world, like the -modern world, was not willing to surrender Proverbs, with their homely -wisdom; Esther, with its lesson of loyalty to race and kindred; Solomon's -Song, with its refusal to listen to the blandishments of royal -lasciviousness luring to the betrayal of a true and humble lover; or even -Ecclesiastes, with its pessimism uncured until the writer once more finds -God. - -After books secured their place in the authorized list of the Jews, they -had still to contest to keep their place. As late as the first century of -the Christian era, debate was frequent. Life was slow to render its -decision. There was no hasty authority. The final judgment was rendered by -the experience of a race. When Eck reminded Martin Luther that the church -had decided what books should go into the canon and that Luther must -accept a quotation from Second Maccabees as authoritative, the great -Reformer made reply, "The church cannot give more authority or force to a -book than it has in itself. A council cannot make that be Scripture which -in its own nature is not Scripture." So it came to pass that in due season -the freed religious consciousness of the church took certain apocryphal -books from the Old Testament canon. That consciousness seemed to feel a -difference in spiritual power between the Apocrypha and the other portions -of the Old Testament. Life was still coming to the polls in order that it, -far more than any stately council, should elect the true Word of God. - -This same process of selection went on in relation to the New Testament. -The early Christians started with no New Testament whatsoever. Their Bible -was the Old Testament. We do not find any warrant for saying that they -expected to make additions to the Bible. Jesus came first. Then the -Gospels and Epistles came as natural consequences. The early Christians, -as we shall later see, had received the very purpose and climax of -Revelation, because they had received Christ. But the Gospels and Epistles -which grew up out of life had in their turn to be tested by life. -Believers began by reading these as if they were suggestive; after the -writings had wrought their full impression upon the minds of the -believers, they began to consider them inspired and holy. This decision -did not come abstractly, nor did it come quickly. Gradually the sense of -the value of certain writings grew upon the early church. Almost two -centuries of the Christian era passed ere the collection so commended -itself to believing hearts as to be given definite form. As in the case of -the Old Testament, so in the case of the New, life declined to be hurried -into a decision. The books must prove their authority in the experience of -the people. The Christian republic was engaged in the task of choosing its -Bible from life. - -We find, too, that certain books appeared as claimants for permanent -authority that did not win their case. The ancient manuscripts were passed -from church to church and were read to the people. The task of sifting -went surely forward. Directly lists of books that peculiarly commended -themselves to the Christians began to appear. In the first two centuries -such leaders as Irenĉus, Clement, and Tertullian present their lists which -show some of our present books omitted, some other books included, and -still other books declared as good but inferior. The Christian -consciousness had not yet reached a confident verdict. But a review of the -period shows the Christian leaders verging toward unanimity. Slowly some -books were eliminated; and slowly other books asserted their right to be -included. By the beginning of the fifth century the canon had been -practically determined. The great Augustine, with his immediate -predecessors and his close successors, reveals the well-nigh unanimous -conclusion to which the church had come. It may well be noted that the -voting booth stood open for almost four hundred years. The Councils of -Hippo and Carthage were simply the servants of the people. The books that -had sprung from life had received the testing of life. - -It must be allowed that here, as in the case of the Old Testament canon, -some books had to re-prove their right to the place of authority. The -Council of Trent may have settled the matter for all Roman Catholics, but -it did not irretrievably close the canon for Protestants. It is well known -that Luther himself wished to remove several books from the list, and that -he called the Epistle of James "strawlike." Luther's reason was a -polemical one. He felt that the vivid practicalness of James conflicted -with the principle of justification by faith alone. It is only a stronger -evidence of the demands of life in the selection of the final canon that -even the powerful influence of Luther could not prevail. The church well -knew that the Epistle of James would be a good antidote for any lazy -mysticism. Life voted against Luther in this instance, and life won. -Zwingli wanted to exclude the Book of Revelation from the canon. The -Christian republic felt that beneath all the weird imagery of the -Apocalypse God was speaking by his servant to the churches of all time. -Life voted against Zwingli in this instance, and life won. When life was -given its freedom the most influential voices of authority could not -prevail against its verdicts. This completes the circle. The Bible was -written by life, and the Bible was selected by life. - -Perhaps it is well to note that when any portion of the Scripture has been -taken away from the purpose of life, it has lost its note of authority; -when it has been brought back to that purpose of life, it has regained -that note. The Song of Solomon illustrates this point. It had slight hold -on the life of the world as long as it was used as a complex allegory or -symbol relating to Christ and the church. All labored attempts to so -construe the book did the book itself injury. But when the Song was -permitted to recover its own relation to life, it recovered its own power. -The lesson of the book, rightly used, may save many young women from -selling themselves to lascivious luxury and may give them strength against -tempting allurements away from loyal love. However old the world may -become, it will always need that lesson. In some way the Song came from -life; and when it is tested by life, it regains its relation to life. -Released from the strain of an allegorical interpretation, it proves -itself a servant of one of life's holiest causes. - -We come now to the primary consideration. The Bible grew from life. The -Bible was tested by life. The Bible climaxes in Life. Jesus said that the -Scriptures testified of him. It is even so. In the Sargent pictures in the -Boston Public Library the prophets are represented as pointing forward to -him. We may even more surely represent the writers of the Gospels and -Epistles as pointing backward to him. The Bible is to be judged by its -goal; and the goal is Christ. Other sacred books, such as the Koran, were -written by one person; the Bible was written by many persons for one -Person. Jesus himself insisted on this. He claimed to surpass the old -revelations. With all his reverence for the Old Testament, he still put -himself above it by words like these: "Ye have heard that it hath been -said by them of olden time, But _I_ say unto you." This is as much as to -affirm that he was the end of a progressive revelation. A skeptic once -said that the whole Bible turns upon Jesus. The skeptic was right. One of -the Gospels gives a word that may safely be applied to the whole trend of -the Bible, "These things are written, that ye might believe that Christ is -the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name." -The very purpose is declared to be that men may be brought to faith in -Christ. - -It would be too much to say that all revelation ceased with the closing of -the canon. Lowell's claim that the Bible of the race is written slowly, -that each race adds its texts of hope and despair, of joy and moan, and -that the prophets still sit at the feet of God, cannot be denied. But we -may confidently assert that revelation came to its culmination and crown -in Jesus Christ. When once the essential things concerning him had found -place in a Book, the Bible found its consummation. Thus do we see that the -books that were written by life, and then were tested by life, came to -their climax in Life. The only way to secure a book better than the Bible -is to secure a person better than Jesus. The best men entertain no such -vain expectation because they know that nothing can be more perfect than -Perfection. - -We have set forth these three main reasons for the unique influence that -the Bible exercises over life. Some are fond of saying that the Bible is -merely one of many sacred books. Those who have read the bibles of other -races will not be misled by the statement. Max Müller writes that the -Sacred Books of the East "by the side of much that is fresh, natural, -simple, beautiful, and true, contain much that is not only unmeaning, -artificial, and silly, but even hideous and repellent." Of the Brahmanas -he affirms that they "deserve to be studied as the physician studies the -twaddle of idiots and the ravings of madmen." The Koran sets forth a very -fine morality, but it was written by one man and really presents a legal -religion. Moreover it offers no perfect example. The author of the Koran -himself claimed to receive revelations that opened a path to immorality. -One voice declared the authority of the book, and an obedient people -accepted this verdict. The Koran was not written by a wide range of life, -expressing God's dealing with many persons under diverse conditions. It -was not tested for its authority by the free conscience of a people. -Mohammed wrote and adopted his own canon. The Christian's Bible, written -by life, tested by life, and culminating in Life, has come back to life -with transforming power. - -The insistence of these chapters is that, when the Holy Scriptures are -given a free opportunity to do their work with life, they prove their own -inspiration. After all, there can be no other proof. The Bible is what it -is, no matter what theory men may adopt as to its formation. It creates -its own evidences. The argument for its inspiration is the life that it -inspires. If the Book gives power and purity to all departments of life, -the Book defends itself against attack and makes its own conquests. Does -the Bible rightly exalt man? Does it sanctify the home? Does it promote -education? Does it glorify work? Does it save wealth from greed, pleasure -from excess, sorrow from despair? These questions reach the center of the -problem. - -We can go but one step beyond them, and that step is most significant. Do -we find in the Bible not only a way to be followed, and a goal of truth to -be gained, but a Life that will help lives along the way toward the goal? -Does the Book really reveal the way, the truth, and the life? The answer -must again be found in life. The evidences of dynamic are in the realms -of human experience. More and more the students of the Holy Scriptures, -who seek the pages with a religious purpose, will find that all the -departments of human living wait on Jesus for their meaning and come to -him for their power. He is the Saviour. He lifts men out of their sins, up -into a trembling and glorious idealism, and still up into a passion for -efficient goodness. The supreme apology for the Bible will ever be found -in men who have been so instructed, reproved, and corrected, that they may -be named as perfect men of God, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. -Given its full right, the Book that was born of life, tried of life, -glorified of Life, will find its own best witnesses in redeemed lives. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE BIBLE AND MAN - - -The natural outline of a human life which has suggested the method of -these lectures represents a man as awaking each morning to the -consciousness of himself. Every man lives perforce in his own company. He -walks with himself on every road of life. He sits with himself in its -resting places. He lies down with himself in its slumbers. He is his own -friend, and his own enemy. Omar Khayyám declares that he is his own heaven -and his own hell. There is a story of a farmer who said that when he -climbed to the roof of his barn and looked about, he always found that he -himself was the center of the world. The roof of the sky at all points was -equally distant from him; the walls of the world made by the dipping -horizon showed the same length of radius from himself! The story has its -serious, as well as its amusing side. Every man is the personal center of -a world which gets its meaning from his own heart. It is no wonder that -the old Greek motto was "Know thyself." - -Yet the knowledge of self is not easy knowledge. The fact that no man has -ever seen his own face, save by reflection in some mirror, is a parable. -The very eyes that see cannot see themselves. They are so near that they -are hidden. The moral literature of the race always emphasizes the -difficulty of self-revelation. Its cry is, "Who can understand his errors? -Cleanse thou me from secret faults." It has a yet deeper desire: that it -may know more of its own essential nature. Each man longs for a revelation -of God; and each man longs for a revelation of himself. The present -emphasis is that the Bible is the medium of this human revelation. - -We do not go far in the reading of its pages without discovering that the -word "thou" looms large in its spiritual grammar. Those curious persons -who often bring their arithmetic to the Bible could doubtless tell how -many times "thou" and "thee" and "thy" and "thine" are found in its -chapters. In the Ten Commandments and in the New Commandment "thou" is the -recurring word. Personal address is prominent everywhere. Indeed, the -whole Book is a kind of prophet coming into the court of each soul and -saying, "Thou art the man." Sometimes the approach is an accusation, -sometimes an approbation; in any case the note is intensely individual. In -the New Commandment the "self" is made the standard by which the relation -to the neighbor is to be tested. The implication would seem to be that the -man who does not love himself lacks the law by which his love for other -men may be made efficient. Polonius was not far from the biblical idea -when he said: - - To thine own self be true, - And it must follow, as the night the day, - Thou canst not then be false to any man. - -In daily parlance it is often said. "Put yourself in his place": but the -value of that transfer of self is small if you do not know what the self -is after you give it the new place! The revelation of self is likewise the -revelation of other men. We know our neighbors only as we know ourselves. - -Presuming, therefore, that we send a man to the Scriptures to find the -doctrine of his own nature, what will be his discovery? The question is -not a new one, and its answer has sometimes been touched by prejudice. -Many have contended that in its effort to magnify God, the Bible is guilty -of belittling man. Fragments of Scripture might be presented to support -this criticism. We must, however, insist that the biblical teaching is to -be determined by its main current rather than by its eddies. The Book does -present God as high and lifted up, while man lies with his lips in the -dust. It does make God a King, while it proclaims man a subject. It does -stress divine sovereignty, while insisting on human obedience and -reverence. It does call for humility on the part of man. We may well admit -that it is possible to overdo the call to humility. That good mood may -easily pass over into a false mood. Occasionally men, in an effort to be -humble, speak untruth concerning their own souls. It is just here that the -"worm-of-the-dust" theory gets its chance. That phrase was a biblical one, -used by a character in his moment of self-abasement. Yet the Concordance -will prove that this lowly estimate of man is by no means the staple of -teaching, as well as that much of the cheap preaching of human nature is a -radical departure from the doctrine of the Book. It is always good to keep -clear the distinction between vanity and self-respect, so that if a man -may not have the right to look down on his neighbors he may still have the -right to look up to himself. Humility must ever be based on truth, and -self-respect can have no other foundation. The two moods are not -contradictory. The one comes from the recognition of the nature of God, in -the utter and unspeakable perfection of his attributes; the other comes -from the recognition of the nature of man as being himself a partaker of -that divine nature. In reality the two moods grow out of the same truth. - -A still deeper objection is sometimes offered against the scriptural -theory of human nature. It is charged that the doctrine of the Fall, -together with the constant emphasis of man's "exceeding sinfulness," -deprives man of special dignity. Without doubt the theory of the Fall has -sometimes been presented in such a manner as to cancel all human claims to -greatness. Whenever a religious teacher carries his doctrine of the Fall -to unjust lengths, we must all be tempted to declare that we can readily -prove an alibi! And if he shall employ that doctrine as a vast slur on -humanity, we shall insist that the length of the fall must be the length -of the possible rise! In harmony with this idea a great preacher has given -the world a sermon on "The Dignity of Humanity as Evidenced by its Ruins." -Much of the glory of the Coliseum at Rome has departed, but even its ruins -are a testimony to its greatness. Seeing its gaunt grandeur in the -sunlight, or viewing its impressive shadows in the moonlight, the tourist -gets the shock of its glory. The simple truth is that a doctrine of the -Fall is possible only when you start with human greatness. God made one -creature strong enough to resist Himself--one creature with sufficient -self-determination to make mutiny in the world. We would not torture the -doctrine of the Fall into a mere compliment for humanity; but we would -insist that the possibility of a Fall implies a height to fall from, and -that responsibility for a Fall implies a nature great enough and free -enough to make far-reaching choices. The evidence of the dignity is still -found among the ruins. - -We must always supplement any doctrine of the Fall with a doctrine of -human responsibility. The Bible is most explicit in this insistence. Its -pages are crowded with the moral imperative for man. The thorn and the -brier are on the earth; but they are not blamed, because they wait for the -era of the good people. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth -together in pain; but the creation is not blamed, because it waits for the -revealing of the sons of God. The lion and the lamb do not lie down -together; but they are not blamed, because they wait for the age of peace -that can issue only from the hearts of men. The coin rolls into dust and -shadow and is lost; we do not blame the coin. The sheep wanders into -desert and darkness and is lost; we do not blame the sheep. The son goes -off into the swine field and is lost; and we do blame the son. The coin -and the sheep have no communings with self, no sense of guilt, no road of -repentant return; but the son has all these. The Bible does utter its -vigorous charge against man's sin; it is the ever-open court room into -which the human conscience is summoned for judgment. The Book does not -treat man as a machine whose cogs and wheels are moved only by outside -force; nor does it treat him as a manikin, jerked hither and yon by -irresponsible sensations; it rather dignifies him with personal -responsibility. The Fall does not prevent climbing, if only man will take -advantage of those gracious powers that are offered for his help. Emerson -saw the meaning of this when he wrote his tribute to mankind based on its -ability to respond to the moral order: - - So nigh is grandeur to our dust, - So near is God to man, - When Duty whispers low, "Thou must," - The youth replies, "I can!" - -Words like "ought" and "should" and "must" have gone forth from the Bible -and have fairly penetrated the moral consciousness of the race. No other -book so honors human nature with a sublime call to responsibility. - -We now leave these general considerations and take up the several portions -of the Scriptures with a view to ascertaining their contributions to a -doctrine of man. The foundation of that doctrine is seen in the account of -the creation. Whether that account be poem, parable, allegory, or history, -its meaning for this special point is the same. The climax of the creation -is man. God is represented as changing chaos into cosmos, separating -waters and land, fixing sun and moon in their places, bringing verdure to -the surface of the earth, assigning birds and beasts and fishes to their -spheres, and then as giving to man a wide rulership. "God made man to have -dominion"--that is the biblical word; and the ages have been telling how -true that word is. The Bible theory and the facts of life join in a -coronation of man. - -The account of the creation goes deeper than this in its estimate of -mankind. Its conferring of power on man is explained by its conferring a -nature on man. Man is made in the divine image. The Word was not content -with one statement of that fact; it must needs give it double emphasis. -"So God created man in his own image"--that would seem simple and strong -enough. But the statement is strengthened by repetition, "In the image of -God created he him." These twice-repeated words are the real charter of -man's greatness. The atheist must admit that man has the dominion, but the -believer holds that man has the dominion because he has the birthright. -Man is not only God's submonarch, he is God's image. - -It is interesting and convincing to note how soon that primary truth about -man's nature began to work. In the persecution under Diocletian the -precious parchments of the Bible had been secretly carried from house to -house. The charge that a Christian had given up the sacred Book in order -to save himself from death was one of the most serious that could be -presented. Many martyrdoms occurred because men preferred the Bible above -their own lives. Though circulated under such difficulty, and though made -into readable parchments at such expense of labor and money, the Bible was -slowly impressing its doctrine of man upon the stubborn period. We are -often smitten with horror as we read stories which show how lightly human -life was regarded by the Romans. Those dreadful scenes in the arena, where -thumbs so often declined to turn down as a sign of mercy, are dire -mysteries to men who have gotten the biblical standpoint. We are distant -from that heartless mood because we are near to the Bible. The Book and -the gladiator could not live together in peace. The Book at once began to -call men from the tiers of bloody pleasure. With the conversion of -Constantine, superficial as it may have been, the change began. The -emperor ordered many splendid copies of the Bible for the churches of his -capital. He himself came under the spell of its human doctrine. Zealous -Christian teachers may sometimes overstate the influence which the Bible -exercised over later Roman law. Still there are some undoubted evidences -of that influence. Constantine made a law forbidding that a criminal -should be branded on the face, and he gave as his reason for the law that -the image of God should not be marred! This leaves us in no doubt as to -what had inspired the legislation. It was the simple beginning of a -program that has not yet come to its consummation. The biblical idea of -man routed one form of slavery, and it will yet rout all other forms. When -men come to believe that man is made in the divine image all good -movements for the betterment of life are set in the way to victory. - -The legal portions of the Bible give us the like lesson, even though the -approach to the lesson is different. Here we discover that humanity is -worthy enough to call for conservation and protection. The legislation -reaches to hygienic and sanitary details of minute character. The whole -effort is to build a protecting fence about men. The Ten Commandments, -studied in this light, become a very human document. Their harsh and -negative quality is softened into gentleness. They guard the goods of -man--his property, his wife and children, his body, his good name. It -would be possible to regard the Decalogue as a series of prohibitions in -which the word "not" occurs with forbidding frequency. In this case the -appropriate accompaniment is thunder and lightning, and the appropriate -scroll for the writing is stone. This viewpoint is one sided and unfair. -The Ten Commandments are prohibitions only because they are protections. -They have been through many ages the kindly sentinels of society. They -have taken the side of God, of his dumb creatures, and of men and women -and little children. Considered in any just way, the legal portions of the -Bible are a tribute not merely to divine authority, but to human worth. - -The prophetical books add their lesson, and from a still different angle. -They are filled with protests against man's conduct, with wrath against -his insincerities, and with predictions of his coming woe. The mouths of -the prophets were not filled with compliments. Those stern men were not -the flatterers of their own generations. Their sayings could be so elected -as to make a degrading estimate of men. But here again we must get the -full meaning of the message. In their last analysis the prophecies are a -marked tribute to potential man. Beyond the disturbed present they see the -peaceful future. Beyond the clash of swords and the swish of spears they -see the mild and productive era of the plowshare and the pruning hook. -Beyond the unreal altars they see the incense of true worship arising to -God. The prophets were, in the best sense, optimists, and they were -optimists because they believed that all men would some day yield to the -Lord. They beheld the whole earth filled with righteousness. They saw the -stone cut loose from the mountain and filling the wide world. The healing -river was to flow to all peoples. Jerusalem was to be the universal joy. -The day would dawn when it would be unnecessary to say to any man, "Know -thou the Lord." The most dismal of the prophets foretold the perfect day. -But all this means that the prophets foretold the perfect man and the -perfect race. To proclaim that humanity, under the guidance of God, is so -capable is to dignify human life beyond measure. - -Nor are we lacking among the prophets an individual example of the power -of self-respect. Nehemiah may not be the premier among his fellows, but he -talks with a royal self-consciousness. When messengers come, desiring -that he shall go down into the plain for a parley with Sanballat, he -declines by saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down." -Again he is told that the enemy is coming, and he is counseled to go into -the temple and cling to the altar for protection. Once more self-respect -comes to the rescue; the reply is, "Should such a man as I flee? and who -is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? -I will not go in." Here the potential man, foretold by the prophet, was -the actual man. He had reached such a high doctrine of his own nature that -the doctrine itself became the prevention of triviality and of cowardice. -The rebuilded walls of Jerusalem arose from that spirit. Those walls were -likewise an expression of the prophet's faith in the future of his people. -The prophetic confidence in man was second only to the prophetic -confidence in God. This form of tribute to humanity is preeminent in the -books of the prophets. - -In the devotional part of the Bible we should not naturally expect that -tribute would turn manward. The tendency is seen in those sections of -prophecy where the prophet himself has close dealings with God. When the -greatest of the prophets sees the ineffable One and hears the awful -trisagion of the seraphim, the prime confession is that his own lips are -unclean and that he dwells in the midst of a people of unclean lips. -Inasmuch as the Psalms are in large measure a liturgy of worship, their -emphasis is on the greatness of Jehovah. Yet sometimes the emphasis turns -toward man. The most striking illustration occurs in the eighth psalm. The -writer there utters the feeling that we have all shared. The limitless -expanse of the heavens, the shining of moon and stars in the far heights, -the workmanship of the Lord in the vast universe--all this makes the -psalmist feel that he is a mere speck in the scheme. Tried by those -celestial measurements, he drops into insignificance. He is rescued from -self-contempt only by a return to the message of Genesis. His despairing -cry issues in a shout of personal triumph. "When I consider thy heavens, -the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; -What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou -visitest him?" If materialism should conquer the Bible there is but one -answer. The psalmist is saved by the Scripture, "Thou hast made him a -little lower than God, and hast crowned him with glory and honor." It is -no marvel that the first translators lowered the tribute and substituted -"the angels" for God. The reverence that so often used a sign for the -divine name trembled on the verge of such a human tribute. Still that -tribute was a return to the doctrine that God had made man in his own -image and had given him dominion over the works of his hand. In addition -to all this, the Psalms are girded with the consciousness that man can -enter into the august presence of the Lord. The mutual element in worship -is an exaltation of man. The greatness of Jacob is greater when he meets -with the heavenly visitant by the Jabbok brook. He becomes a prince. In -the devotional books man claims his princely heritage. He treads the -courts of the infinite King. - -Moving forward into the New Testament, we find that the doctrine of man -gathers more impressiveness. Jesus never cast any doubt upon the supreme -place of man in the program of God. He put his harshest blame upon those -who wickedly misled the children of the Father. He himself was chided -because he sought the lowliest and the worst among men and women. He ate -with the publican and gave his choicest lesson to the harlot. He was -willing to exchange his social reputation for the privilege of associating -with the humblest people. For a woman with a dark past he delocalized -worship. From another he accepted the offering of grateful tears and put -her conduct in contrast with that of the lordly Pharisee. He was the -Prophet for the soul as such. He was the Priest who mediated gladly -between the least one and the greatest One. We search his words in vain -for anything that put contempt on man as man. - -When he compared men to the rest of creation it was always to human -advantage. He told of the care of the shepherd for the sheep, and then he -asked, "How much is a man better than a sheep?" He declared that God noted -the fall of sparrows, though they brought small price in the market place, -and then, speaking to ordinary men and women, nearly all of them ignorant -and more than half of them slaves, he said, "Are ye not much better than -they?" Nor were these sayings really interrogative; they were exclamatory. -Jesus knew that every normal man would feel the answer in his own soul. -The worth of man was, in the teaching of Jesus, beyond debate. - -He moved, also, from inanimate things to the assertion of man's worth. The -lilies and grasses were in the care of God and waited on him for their -vesture. "Will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" He made -the worth of man the warrant of the care of God. At last he put man on one -side of the scale and the whole world on the other side, and he affirmed -that man outweighed the world. Men may barter themselves for half a -township; but Jesus declared that it would be a disastrous bargain, if a -man should accept the world in exchange for himself. "What shall it profit -a man, if he gain the world and lose himself? Or what will a man give in -exchange for himself?" This is the final answer to any paltry teaching -about the worth of man. - -When choice had to be made between man's interests and sacred laws and -ordinances, Jesus gave preference to man. The shewbread was consecrated, -but he approved the taking of it to satisfy human hunger. The Sabbath day -was holy, but the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath; so -the plucked ears of corn were a testimonial to men. - -The attitude of Jesus toward childhood is tender evidence of his thought -of humanity. The child has not yet won any achievement, save the loving -assertion of its own dependency. The child in the midst represented -humanity in its freshest and most natural form. It is said that some -ancient religionists were accustomed to debate whether or not a child had -a soul. Jesus would have scorned such a debate. He made the child the -model of the kingdom. Human life unspoiled was lifted up as an example. To -offend a little one was worse than being sunk by a millstone into the -sea. A cup of cold water given to a child would win a special reward. The -angels of the children behold ever the face of the Father. Thus the child, -in all the teaching of Jesus, was made the creditor of the race. - -Jesus carried this doctrine of man on to the uttermost issue. We have -never yet secured the full meaning of that "inasmuch" in the account of -the final judgment. The Lord lives beyond the need of man's overt aid. But -human beings are his representatives. The righteous had so far overlooked -this fact, that they were forgetful of any ministry to him; and what had -been the unconscious glory of the righteous was the unconscious tragedy of -the wicked. The judgment day will be filled with human tests. He who has -not acted as if human beings stood for God cannot meet the final -standards. Jesus's picture of the judgment is a statement of divine -authority; and it is an appraisement of human worth. - -Thus do we see that from whatever side we come to the teaching of Christ, -we find an exalted doctrine of man. The incarnation itself is a -contribution to that doctrine. If we call it "the human life of God" it -was a life lived for the sake of man. The Word became flesh and dwelt -among men, full of grace and truth, because men needed the message of -that Word. The whole life of Jesus was lived for man. He himself said, -"For their sakes I sanctify myself." All those sacrificial phrases that -describe the purpose of his coming add glory to human life. The joy that -was set before him was the goal of a redeemed humanity. His living for men -was simply his teaching about men, made over into concrete terms. In the -Parable of the Good Shepherd he gives the revelation of his own attitude -toward men. One soul, brought back into right relations with God, makes -joy in heaven. It is the Eternal One who is represented as saying, -"Rejoice with me." Men may deny the doctrine of the only begotten Son, but -they can scarcely deny that that doctrine leads on to a wondrous doctrine -of human worth. - -The Cross, viewed in one light, becomes the very climax of the doctrine of -man. Theologians have often laid their stress upon some single purpose of -the divine sacrifice. One has said that the Cross appeases the anger of -God; another that the Cross maintains the majesty of the law; another that -the Cross is a moral influence wooing and winning the heart of man to God; -another that the Cross is the expression of the Father's sorrow with the -sins and sorrows of his children. But we may surely take one meaning of -the Cross to be the divine estimate of man. God's sense of values must be -preserved. He did not send his Son to die for worms of the dust. That idea -may fit an extreme mood of spiritual abasement. We may grant all possible -condescension in the atoning act of God, but we cannot grant a -condescension that dedicates infinite worth to finite worthlessness. Jesus -died for men just because men were far more than worms of the dust. If we -are to keep that theory of atonement that has long held the heart of the -church, we are driven to affirm that the Cross gives us a divine estimate -of mankind. No man ever appreciates the worth of himself until he gets the -appraisal of Calvary. The dying of Jesus is not out of harmony with his -teaching and his living. The whole program is like the garment taken from -him on the day of crucifixion; it is woven throughout without seam. Men -may decry a doctrine of substitution, but they cannot say that such a -doctrine is a slight tribute to human worth. In such a doctrine thorns and -nails and spears and all the drama of the Cross are made into tributes to -the soul of man. - -This carries us on to the biblical teaching of man's permanent worth. The -doctrine of immortality makes its incalculable addition to the doctrine of -man. There is a story, for which the writer cannot vouch, that Thomas -Carlyle in a mood of pessimism one day wrote this peevish estimate of man: - - What is man? A foolish baby! - Vainly strives and fumes and frets! - Demanding all, deserving nothing, - One small grave is all he gets! - -Language like this is certainly no contribution to the literature of -self-respect. The story proceeds to relate that Carlyle's wife found this -poetic depreciation lying on the table, and that she wrote the following -confession and correction: - - And man? O hate not, nor despise - The fairest, lordliest work of God! - Think not he made thee good and wise - Only to sleep beneath the sod! - -Doubtless the tale is apocryphal. In any case the latter estimate is far -nearer to the biblical conception, and it is altogether worthy of a -woman's moral instinct. If man is to live forever, as the climax of -Revelation insists, it is quite impossible for him to "think too much" of -himself, unless he indulges in comparison of himself with others. An -argument for immortality does not fall within the scope of this lecture; -but the bearing of immortality, as declared in the Holy Scriptures, on the -view that men must take of human nature, touches our purpose in a radical -way. A deathless person must respect himself. A deathless person must -command the respect of a world--and of God. The doctrine of immortality -adds an infinite measure to the doctrine of human worth. - -Even the biblical representation of heaven secures a relation to this -subject. The abode for immortal life, as well as immortal life itself, may -be turned into a human estimate. The book of Revelation declares that the -nations shall bring "their glory and honor" into the Eternal City. This -can only mean that men shall make some contribution to the eternal life. -What they are and what they have done shall fill heaven with added value. -The cities of earth shall transport treasures to the Heavenly City. Here, -again, we come upon a reason based on the divine sense of values. God will -not provide an Eternal Home that is any better than the Eternal Beings for -whom he makes it ready. The gem is to be better than the setting. In a -certain sense, therefore, jasper walls and pearl gates and gold streets, -as seen in the descriptions of heaven, are tributes to human souls. The -Bible tells us that "greater than the house is he that built it," and the -Bible would tell us, also, that the occupant of the house is greater than -the house. God will provide no everlasting dwelling that is better than -the everlasting dwellers. Heaven is made for man, and not man for heaven. -The many mansions are tributes to the people that shall live in the -Father's house. The Scriptures are reserved in their revealings of the -other land; but their descriptions of celestial glories may be united with -those other portions of the Bible that dignify the human spirit and may be -taken as standing for the divine valuation of the essential selves of men. - -This review of the teaching of the several sections of the Bible has -confessedly sought for the words and ideas that exalt the doctrine of man. -Allowing all possible discounts, and admitting all possible offsets, the -residuum of instruction tending to glorify human nature is significant. We -need not wonder that some thoughtful men have affirmed that the chief -characteristic of Christianity is the value that it places on man. If we -do not accept this statement, we can still declare that the Bible is the -supreme Book when judged by its emphasis on human values. - -Nor can there be any doubt of the need of this emphasis in our own age. As -men crowd more and more into the great centers of population, the tendency -will be to hold men cheaply. In former times man was often highly valued -because of his rarity. On the far Eastern plains a new face, not being -often seen, was regarded with curious interest. Thus Abraham stood in the -door of his tent in the heat of the day and welcomed the stranger, because -the stranger was an event. But in the modern city the stranger is no -longer an event; he is only an episode, or perhaps an incident. We pass -him on the dense street, and we do not notice him at all. There are so -many of him that, unless we are heedful, we shall come to regard him -lightly just because he is hidden by the crowd. When factories grow so -huge that men are known, not by their names, but by their numbers, only -the scriptural emphasis upon men as such can save human beings from being -deemed "hands" rather than souls. If the sin of the countryside is an -excessive social interest that makes for gossip, the sin of the city is a -social carelessness that makes for indifference. The various problems of -our social life wait for their solution upon the Christian doctrine of -man. When that doctrine has done its full service, race problems, labor -problems, liquor problems, and all their dreadful accompaniments will -issue into a righteous and intelligent peace. An immortal son of God, -knowing himself, cannot be unjust to another immortal son of God, when -once he knows his Brother. - -This hints at the personal bearing of the doctrine. As men grow in moral -and spiritual experience, they find themselves using more and more the -test of self-respect. Knowing that the reaction of certain behaviors makes -them feel that a fragment of the soul has slipped away from them, so that -they have the sense of smallness, they guard their natures lest legitimate -pride should be destroyed. Andrews Norton once wrote to his son, Charles -Eliot Norton, who was about to go abroad for an important service, telling -the young man that his family and friends recognized that he had special -powers for doing large and worthy things. Then he added that "this ought -not to make one vain. On the contrary, their true tendency is to produce -that deep sense of responsibility--of what we owe to God, to our friends, -and to our fellowmen--which is wholly inconsistent with presumption or -vanity." It was a wise father who wrote thus to his son. If the Christian -doctrine of man be true, no man can think too much of himself. There is a -type of saving pride. Clough stated it in his well-known lines: - - Then welcome, Pride! and I shall find - In thee a power to lift the mind - This low and groveling joy above-- - 'Tis but the proud can truly love. - -The pride that comes from the consciousness of the divine image has power -to restrain from sins and trivialities, and it has power likewise to -constrain toward holiness of character and largeness of service. One who -has come to believe that he is made in the divine image, that he is one of -the divinely appointed rulers of the world, that the great laws are -designed for his protection, that the alluring prophecies of the future -are declarations of his coming power, that his worship is the symbol of -his partnership with the Most High, that the incarnation is in his -interest, that the Infinite Teacher brought him matchless tributes, that -the Cross of Calvary is an expression of his own valuation, that immortal -life is his destiny, and that a glorious heaven is the fitting place for -his final dwelling--such a one has gained all the preventions and all the -inspirations of the Christian doctrine of self-respect. Sins and -trivialities cannot flourish when one thinks so much of oneself; great -affections and lasting consecrations seem natural to one so highly -endowed. The conception that makes for the dignity of self makes also for -the consideration of others. He who entertains this view begins to - - Find man's veritable stature out, - Erect, sublime, the measure of a man, - And that's the measure of an angel, - Says the apostle. - -To such a one life becomes solemn and beautiful. He is now the son of God. -While he knows not yet what he shall be, he sees the vision of the Elder -Brother and so purifies himself even as he is pure. The world needs the -gospel of the Son of God in order that it may learn the gospel of the sons -of God. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE BIBLE AND HOME - - -The significance of the home is seen in the fact that every human being is -a son or a daughter. This ordinary statement at once insists on becoming -extraordinary. It is difficult to think what life would have been, or even -how it could have been, if children had been pushed upon the earth from -some mysterious void and had been nurtured without the providential agency -of fathers and mothers. So much do we realize the importance of the home -that where it is impossible to maintain one, owing to the death, or -inability, or worthlessness of parents, we still make provision for an -institution that shall provide as many domestic features as can be won for -the orphaned. This we call an Orphans' Home. It is significant that the -sociological tendency of the period drifts away from even this -institution. The effort now is to bring the childless and the parentless -together. Goldsmith said that the nakedness of the indigent world might be -clothed with the trimmings of the vain. There are those who affirm that, -if the parentless and the childless could be brought into the company of -homes, the Orphan Asylum would be no longer needed. - -Our imaginations may make an easy test. Let an authoritative edict go -forth that after the approaching midnight the home would be banished, and -that each community must adjust itself to some other form of social life. -What would such an edict mean? The homes from which students have come are -no more responsible for them. They constitute no longer the bases of -supplies on which they can draw, nor the alluring hearthstones to which -they can return. The workman turns no more his eager feet toward the -lights of his cottage. The prince finds his palace removed and all its -splendor ceases to invite him. Little children are herded into impersonal -surroundings and become public rather than domestic charges. The scene of -disaster could be described without merciful stint. These suggestions are -enough to show that society could scarcely escape chaos if the home were -to be destroyed. How much do the words father, mother, brother, sister, -wife, husband, son, daughter mean? Empty out their closer significance, -and you vacate much of life's meaning. - -Nor is this the narrow word of an ecclesiastic or theologian. Drummond in -The Ascent of Man claims that the evolution of a father and mother was -the final effort of nature. John Fiske, as scientist and historian, points -out the helplessness of infant life as binding parents into unity that -grows out of responsibility. Soon after its birth the wee animal runs and -leaps, while the wee bird does not wait long ere it flies from limb to -limb; but the human babe in the ancient forest lies helpless in its log -cradle for many months. Both Drummond and Fiske agree that by this program -the God of nature was introducing patience, devotion, and sacrifice into -the world and was making ready for the kingdom of heaven. It is plain that -Drummond does not state it too strongly when he says that "the goal of the -whole plant and animal life seems to have been the creation of a family -which the very naturalist had to call Mammals," or Mothers. - -This represents somewhat the divine history of the home. The prophecy of -the home likewise does some convincing work. The truth is that the home as -an institution plants itself squarely in the path of some modern social -theories. Some of those theories have begun by boldly demanding that the -home be abolished because it has been made a buttress of private life and -property. Not only has this suggestion been met with a horror that in -itself expresses the instinctive conviction of the sacredness of the home, -but it has been met with the insistence that the prophets should name -their substitute for the hearthstone. This insistence has received nothing -more than hazy and vague replies. The prophet stammers out some dark -saying about "something better" or about the home as having fulfilled its -mission in "the evolution of society"; and by the very helplessness of his -speech he really becomes an advocate of closer domestic relations! It is -interesting to note how these reformers seek to find a good path back from -their social desert! They soon declare that the new regime must keep the -home intact, and that only sporadic and irresponsible voices from their -camp are lifted against the home's sanctity! The antihome prophet always -has a hard task. He collides with one of the granite convictions of -humanity. If he would save the rest of his theory he must save the home -from the proposed destruction. God has set the solitary in families. Men -look in vain for a better setting for the jewel of life. From all their -seeking they come back in due season to the truth that, imperfect as the -home may often be, it is still rooted and grounded in outer life and in -inner instinct, and that it is futile to try to make better what God has -made best. - -All this will serve for emphasizing the importance of the home, though -much more might be added. When the man awakes in the morning, becomes -aware of himself, and then hears the voices of his wife and children, he -is immediately related to one of the fundamental institutions of society. -If the Bible be, as we have claimed, preeminently the Book of Life, it -must relate itself vitally to the home. Our inquiry, therefore, is, What -bearing does the Book have upon the home? The answer must necessarily be -sketchy and incomplete; but we can soon gather an answer that will -establish the biblical drift of teaching. - -The Bible begins with an impressive lesson of monogamy. In the Eden life -one man and one woman join hands as partners in joy and work. Let the -account be poetry, allegory, parable, the lesson is the same. In that -intimate communion with God that found him in the garden in the cool of -the day, bigamy and polygamy are not represented as being at home. Even -the Fall is not described as quickly dropping man low enough to reach the -dreadful level of promiscuity or of any of the approaches to so-called -free love. It required time ere that downward journey could be made. -Humanity in its innocence is not described as starting from the dens of -polygamy. - -But in season the Bible gives us some disconcerting facts. Bigamy and -polygamy confront us in the lives of some worthies. Let it be allowed that -sometimes the motive is the perpetuation of the home itself. Provision is -sought against the curse of barrenness. Let it be allowed, also, that the -Bible does not represent bigamy as working well. It brought discord into -Abraham's tent. The peevish wife drives her own wretched substitute from -the door, until the desolate Hagar stands in her loneliness and repeats -the comforting ritual of the seeing God. The son of bigamy goes off into -his wild life, with his hand against every man and every man's hand -against him. The admirable thing about the second patriarch is his -devotion to one woman. Neutral and characterless as Isaac seems to be, he -still won a mention in the marriage service of the ages by his -faithfulness to Rebecca alone. Upon the third patriarch bigamy was forced -by a cruel deception. In truth a review of the Old Testament will show -that any departure from the unity of the home made for trouble. It filled -the moving tabernacles of the patriarchs with quarrels. It led David on to -murder. It drenched Solomon in debauchery. It degraded the successive -kings until it destroyed their power and ruined the nation. Its -inevitable end was the loss of the land and the sadness of captivity. - -The Old Testament records polygamy, but it does not applaud polygamy. When -once a polygamist stood in the halls of Congress and defended his right to -a seat by quoting the examples of the patriarchs, his plea did not avail. -Not only was the conviction of the nineteenth century against his -contention, but the mood of the very Book from which he quoted was his -enemy. So far as we can judge, monogamy was the general rule among the -Jewish people. The exemplars of bigamy and polygamy were mainly those -whose position enabled them to flaunt the public sentiment of their day. -The history of Old Testament polygamy is so sorrowful that the Hebrew -people have reacted from it into a stanch defense for the monogamic home. -The seduction of Tamar, the murder of Amnon, the unfilial licentiousness -of Absalom, the sordid road of impurity trod by the later monarchs of -Israel, and the despair of the Babylonish captivity, make a piercing case -against polygamy. On the other hand, the unwavering faithfulness of the -maid in the Song of Solomon, the patience of Hosea with his prodigal wife, -the idyllic story of Ruth, all these became persuasive pleas for a home -wherein one man and one woman should live together in loyal love even -until death. When Jesus came to give his message contemporaneous polygamy -had all but ceased in Palestine. But easy divorce, sometimes called -"consecutive polygamy," had become prevalent. The world was waiting for -the voice of authority, and it heard that voice when Christ began to -teach. - -The teaching of Jesus in reference to marriage is unmistakable. It may -impress many as severe; it cannot impress any as doubtful. If we accept -him as the Supreme Teacher we receive a decision given with no equivocal -terms. It is often said that the method of the Lord was to offer general -principles and to leave his followers to carry out these principles in the -spirit of loving discipleship. Thus he declined to give detailed rules for -the observance of the Sabbath, explicit instructions for the division of -estates, definite laws for prayer and worship and almsgiving. Yet when he -discussed marriage he gave both general principles and specific rules. If -this was not the only case where he became sponsor for a rule it was -surely the most emphatic case. He seemed to feel that concerning marriage -and the home he must give a mass of distinct precepts. It was as if he -deemed the home so sacred and its enemies so subtle and powerful as to -make necessary some particular instruction. - -Perhaps we shall not err in saying that Jesus found in his time urgent -reasons for specific and strong teaching about marriage. The Jews, who -went to a mechanical extreme in their observance of the Sabbath law, had -gone to an opposite extreme in their attitude toward the law of the home. -In this regard the period was worse than our own, but it was not unlike -our own. The domestic conscience of the Jews had been more or less -weakened. Mere trifles were made excuses for the breaking up of home. -Doubtless the influence of the Romans was making itself felt among the -Hebrews. Professor Sheldon quotes Dorner as showing the reckless ease of -divorce among leading Romans. One man divorced his wife because she went -unveiled on the street; another because she spoke familiarly to a -freedwoman; another because she went to a play without his knowledge. Even -Cicero, proclaimed a very noble Roman, divorced his first wife that he -might marry a wealthier woman, and his second wife because she did not -seem to be sufficiently afflicted over the death of his daughter! "In -fine," says Professor Sheldon, "it was not altogether hyperbole when -Seneca spoke of noble women as reckoning their years by their successive -husbands rather than by the Consuls" (History of the Early Church, pages -29, 30). - -The records of this same period among the Romans will rout the claim that -easy divorce tends to purity. Faithlessness to marriage vows was not -seriously regarded, and there were instances of so-called noble women -registering as public prostitutes in order that they might thus avoid the -penalties of the laws! Easy divorce seemed to be accompanied by easy -virtue, as if, indeed, both evils grew naturally out of the same soil. The -Roman fashions were having their influence on the Jews. The sacred law was -searched and was explained away with evil subtlety in order that men might -be religiously released from the marriage bond. - -Evidently, then, the times demanded that Jesus should save the marriage -law from looseness. The ease of divorce was not unlike that in our own -land to-day. If the teaching of Jesus was needed then it is needed now in -order that marriage may recover its binding solemnity. On general -principles we must all rejoice that Jesus did not give a dubious word on -this sacred matter. It may be doubted whether any man who did not have the -cause of his own pleasure to serve and who was not willing to subordinate -a social law to the superficial joy of his own life, would be willing to -modify the Saviour's teaching. Certainly that teaching has long been the -firm bulwark of the married life. Had Jesus spoken with doubt, or had he -given sanction to easy divorce, what would the results have been? Our -homes would have been builded upon the sands of freakish impulses and of -hasty tempers. But Jesus's word puts rock into the domestic foundation. -When it was given it was met by all of the objections which it still -evokes. Some said that the teaching was extreme in its severity, quite -outdoing the law of Moses in its demands. Others said that rather than to -submit to a bond so unbreakable, it would be better not to marry at all. -Still Jesus did not lower his teaching. God was the author of marriage; -man must not assume to be its destroyer. God takes two persons and makes -them one flesh; man must not cut that vital bond. - -Plainly, then, Jesus felt that marriage established a family relationship -which was to resemble other family relationships in its indissolubleness. -How can a man get rid of his brother, or his sister, or his father or -mother, when God has decreed a relation in the flesh that cannot be -severed? One may live apart from brother or sister, or father or mother, -as a matter of convenience or peace; but how can one destroy the -relationship? In spite of angry decrees, is not the brother still a -brother, and do not father and mother remain father and mother in -defiance of all unfilial pronouncements of divorce? In Jesus's view the -second family relationship was as indissoluble as the first. If one were -to argue from a certain standpoint it might be easy to claim that it must -be even more indissoluble. A man does not choose his first home. It -represents a necessity against which he may not strive. But he does choose -his second home, and it represents a union for which he is himself -distinctly responsible. Why should a man be allowed to divorce himself -from the home which is founded by his liberty while still being inexorably -bound to the home which was founded without his choice? Jesus taught that -the very constitution of society, as resting on the word of God, demanded -that the second home be as sacredly unbreakable as the first. The "one -flesh" must not be severed in either case. - -Hence it comes about that, while the law of Jesus does not allow divorce, -unless for the one reason mentioned later, it does not forbid separation. -The sin does not consist in putting away the wife when conditions are -unbearable; it does consist in marrying another. He does not insist that -the quarrelsome shall live amid their brawls; but he does insist that they -shall not go into another experiment that degrades a sacred covenant. We -do not long listen to the specious arguments for easy divorce, with the -privilege of remarriage, without discovering that these arguments affirm -either that personal purity is impossible or that personal convenience and -pleasure are the primary demands of life. Jesus did not so teach. Dr. -Peabody, in his matchless discussion of Jesus's teaching about the family, -well says: "The family is, to Jesus, not a temporary arrangement at the -mercy of uncontrolled temper or shifting desire; it is ordained for that -very discipline in forbearance and restraint which are precisely what many -people would avoid, and the easy rupture of its union blights these -virtues in their bud. Why should one concern himself in marriage to be -considerate and forgiving, if it is easier to be divorced than it is to be -good?" (Jesus Christ and the Social Question, p. 159.) That these words -touch the evil heart of many modern divorces there can be no doubt. The -emphatic teaching of Jesus was that marriage should not be regarded as a -breakable agreement of convenience, but rather as an indissoluble pledge -of permanent union. - -Whether Jesus allowed any exception to this law remains a debatable matter -among the scholars. Some contend that the "save for fornication" clause is -an interpolation, and that the teaching of Jesus admitted no divorce -whatsoever. Others contend that the gospel writers who omit this clause -regarded the one reason for divorce as so certain that it was not deemed -necessary to mention its legitimacy. It may be claimed with a show of -reason that the regarding of adultery as an exceptional sin against the -married life stands for something instinctive in human nature. -Notwithstanding all statements that desertion and abuse and drunkenness -may be so aggravated as to constitute offenses worse than fornication, -normal men and women continue to assign a lonely infamy to the sin of -carnal unfaithfulness. If Jesus did use the exceptional clause there is -not wanting evidence that his word is confirmed by an all but universal -feeling. Many races have been disposed to decree that the sin of adultery -is the one iniquity sharp and incisive enough to sever the "one flesh." -Perhaps it is safe to affirm that the great majority of good men and women -do not shrink from the exception as being unworthy of Jesus's teaching. -But, the exception being granted, that teaching is clear and -uncompromising. When that teaching becomes the law of the world divorce -courts will be largely emptied and the marriage vows will be assumed with -less haste and with more solemnity. - -The New Testament is thus seen to be the headquarters of that conception -of marriage that alone gives a firm foundation to the home. It is -impossible to conceive what would have been the dismal statistics of -divorce, if Jesus had made the marriage bond of slender strength. Truly -the situation is bad enough as it is. Often the causes for divorce are -trivial; sometimes they are deliberately arranged by the separating -parties! and occasionally the much-married comedian is hailed on the stage -with a joking tolerance. But when more than ninety per cent of the -marriages of the land stand the tests of time and are kept in fidelity -until the "one flesh" is severed by death, it is evident that some strong -force still guards the home from desecration. - -We need not inquire what that force is; it is the Word of Christ. Among -those who follow him least, he has made divorce "bad form"; among those -who follow him somewhat, he has made it doubtful morals; while among those -who accept him as Lord and Master, he has made it sacrilege and blasphemy. -The devotees of pleasure and convenience and lust may well quarrel with -the decree of Christ. The devotees of compromise may seek to refine and -discount his explicit law. Yet all those who see in the home the very -center and heart of a properly organized society, as well as the very -ordination of the Lord God Almighty, will not cease to be grateful that -Christ spoke so unmistakably concerning its solemn sanction. He fixed -forever the difference between the civil marriage and the Christian -marriage. He filled the marriage service with religious terms. "The sight -of God," "instituted of God," "mystical union," "holy estate," "Cana of -Galilee," "reverently, discreetly, and in the fear of God," "God's -ordinance," "forsaking all other," "so long as ye both shall live," "for -better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health," -"the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," "God hath -joined together," "in holy love until their lives' end"--all these words -are Christ's words, his Spirit confirmed them in the service of his -church. That service may well close with the prayer which declares that -his is "the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever." - -More and more careful students of both sociology and Christianity will see -that no safe conception of marriage can be found save in the words of the -Lord. The civil contract idea is full of peril. The case of Percy Bysshe -Shelley, the English poet, is in evidence. The illustration may be -extreme, but it will the better show the sure goal of that theory of -marriage that forgets God. Shelley, for a time at least, was an outright -atheist. Bowing God out of the universe, he could not consistently leave -God in his theory of marriage. His college thesis was an argument for -atheism. Given sufficient provocation and motive, Shelley was sure to -reach the limit of a godless idea of marriage. It seems almost impossible -for men with a literary mania to see social or moral fault in their -heroes, and their tendency often is to absolve writers of genius from the -usual laws. Shelley married the daughter of a retired innkeeper. In two -years he separated from his wife and two children. Three years later the -wife drowned herself, meeting voluntarily a fate which Shelley was to meet -involuntarily. An apologist for Shelley says, "The refinements of -intellectual sympathy which poets desiderate in their spouses Shelley -failed to find in his wife, but for a time he lived with her not -unhappily; nor to the last had he any fault to allege against her, except -such negative ones as might be implied in his meeting a woman he liked -better." The more we study this language the more does its superficiality -impress us. Let it be said that Shelley was young and heedless when he -first married; let it be said, also, that he was in general strangely -lovable and warmly philanthropic; and let it be said, even, that he was in -his lifetime execrated beyond his deserts. But it would not be so easy to -palliate his conduct if one's own daughter had drowned herself to end her -sorrow, or if one's own daughter had traveled with him, unmarried, over -France and Switzerland! Somehow literary admiration plays tricks on moral -natures. Doubtless the judgment of Shelley on the basis of his boyish poem -"Queen Mab" was unfair, even as its surreptitious publication without his -consent was unfair. None the less one may trace a connection between his -college production in defense of atheism and his later domestic conduct. -No marriage has a sure foundation apart from a religious sanction. The -more we consider the possibilities suggested by this confessedly extreme -illustration, the more will we cling to the strict theory of Jesus as -against the limping logic of any loose sociologist. - -We have thus seen that the foundation of the home comes to the Bible, and -particularly to the goal of the Bible's revelation in Christ, for its -solidity. Other foundations are fashioned of yielding sand. The marriage -ceremony might well be modified in some minor regards; but the word of -Christ will insist that the ceremony shall represent no flimsy contract. -While he rules the pronouncement will be, "God hath joined together"; and -the human response will remain, "till death us do part." - -The relation of Jesus to the home goes farther than his word about -marriage, deep and far-reaching as that is. His life emphasized the -sacredness of the family relation. He went back from the scene in the -Temple to be "subject unto his parents." He wrought his first miracle on -the occasion of a marriage. Many of his miracles of mercy were performed -in answer to a family plea. He heard the cry of a mother when he healed -the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, and again when he raised up the -son of the widow of Nain. He heard the cry of a father when he cast out -the evil spirit and restored a stricken son, clothed and in his right -mind. He heard the cry of sisters when he stood weeping at the grave of -Lazarus. The domestic plea quickly reached his heart and summoned his aid. -It was so even in the personal sense. In the agony of the crucifixion he -did not fail to commend his mother to the care of his best-to-do disciple, -and to cause the writing of that simple statement, "From that day that -disciple took her into his own home." - -Indeed, through all the life of Jesus he glorified the family, unless the -family stood in the way of his truth or work. Emerson said once, "I will -hate my father and my mother when my genius calls me." We all know where -Emerson got those words; they were not written on his own authority. Jesus -made our human ancestry subject to our divine ancestry. Above the earthly -parents he saw the heavenly Father. The God who ordained the home was -above the home. But Jesus would allow no other exception. He himself lived -by that supreme law. He was homeless in obedience to his own divine -mission. There is a peculiar illustration of this, hidden somewhat by our -awkward distribution of the Bible into chapters and verses. The seventh -chapter of John ends with the words, "They went every man to his own -house." It is not difficult for us to reproduce the scene, even with its -Oriental touches. The discussion of the day is over. The hearers did what -men and women have been doing ever since--they turned to the twinkling -lights of their homes. Soon the crowds had disappeared and the various -persons had joined themselves to their family groups. The homeless One was -left alone. The first verse of the eighth chapter of John says, "Jesus -went unto the mount of Olives." It was just an instance of his tragedy, -"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of -man hath not where to lay his head." The homelessness of Jesus was -vicarious. Sometimes still he calls his own into the same vicariousness. -He separates sons and daughters from their fathers and mothers and sends -them afar to preach his kingdom. Wherever those homeless ones may go, the -meaning of home takes on a new and sacred meaning. They carry with them -the Word and Spirit of him who, being weary, invited the weary ones to -come to him for rest; being thirsty, invited the thirsty ones to drink of -the water of life; being poor, invited the poor to come to him for riches; -being dead, invited the dying ones to look to him for eternal life; and, -being homeless, still commands the world to look to him for the spirit of -home. Even though he himself went down into the darkness of the Mount of -Olives, ever since his day the people that have heard and heeded his word -have found the lights of home more inviting and the mission of the home -more divine. - -There is yet another consideration which must be noted ere we receive the -full message of Jesus about the home. The teaching of Jesus concerning God -was almost wholly based on a figure of speech derived from the home. In -the Old Testament God is mentioned under the title of fatherhood but seven -times. Five times he is spoken of as the father of the Jewish people; -twice he is spoken of as the father of individual men. Only once in the -sweep of the ancient Scriptures is there found a prayer addressed to God -as Father. God was the King of kings, and the Lord of hosts; he was -Creator and Lawgiver. But in the knowledge of the people he was not yet -Father. The world waited long ere men found an Elder Brother who could -break the spell of their orphanhood and reveal to them a Father. When -Jesus desired to tell men what God was like he went to their homes and -found therein the form of his teaching. He sprinkled the New Testament -with the domestic name of God. Two hundred and sixty-five times God is -spoken of under the title of Fatherhood. The sacredness of the home -relation could not receive holier emphasis. - -Thus the homes which are founded by the Lord become revelations of the -Lord. Domestic relations are teachers of theology. Well may we speak of a -Family Bible! There is such a Bible. The illustration of theology is the -family illustration. Some day we shall recover that theology, and we shall -place the theologies that have superseded it in their secondary place. -Jesus was the final Teacher of theology, and we must give him the primacy. -Under his teaching every true home is a symbol of the divine household; -every true parent is a limited representative of God; every true son is an -example of the filial spirit that is religion. The path of prayer starts -with the word Father. The doctrine of providential care is explained by -the word Father. The call to obedience refers to the will of the Father. -The deeper tragedy of sin comes from the fact that the offense is against -the Father. Conversion is a return to the Father. - -Taking, then, the direct teaching of Jesus with reference to marriage as -the founding of the home, taking his life in its merciful relation to the -home, and taking his teaching about God as based on the home, we are -justified in saying that Jesus was the Prophet and Saviour of the Family. -The vision that he gave of the other life took on that form again. He -declared that he was preparing a place for his own, and he called that -place the "Father's house." He was likewise preparing a home this side of -the many mansions. A Carpenter he was. He has builded many sanctuaries, -some for worship, and some for the mercy that we show to the sick, and -aged, and destitute. But the Carpenter of Nazareth is the builder of the -true home. His word lays its foundations, raises its walls, places its -capstone, and furnishes its atmosphere of peace and love. The home that is -placed on any other word cannot stand the shock of the tempest. It is -based on sand; and when the winds and rains and storms of passion come, -the home will fall, and great will be the fall thereof. The world needs -to-day the lesson of Jesus about the home; and it needs, also, the spirit -of Jesus in the home. When men and women yield to that spirit, -extravagance will be checked, forbearance will be increased, love will be -promoted, peace will be established. Husband and wife will not then plead -that Jesus's strict decree concerning marriage may be annulled. Earthly -homes will be like vestibules of the Father's House. - -There remains for brief discussion the relation of the Epistles of the New -Testament to the home life of the people. The tendency here has been to -give undue emphasis to certain phases of Paul's teaching. Some reformers, -especially some radical feminists, have spoken of the great apostle's -teaching with scant respect. The command to wives to obey their husbands -has been kept apart from the command to husbands to love their wives even -as Christ loved the church. Christ loved the church so that he gave his -life for it; and when husbands love their wives to that sublime extent, -obedience is no longer demanded for tyranny. All technical matters aside, -it will be seen that the apostolic treatment of the domestic relations, -touching the relative duties of husbands and wives, parents and children, -and masters and servants, shows a marked balance. When each party keeps -his portion of the precepts, and is strictly minded to fulfill precisely -his part of the apostolic contract, debates about primacy and authority -find their gracious solution in mutual love. Unless we should wish to make -undue account of Saint Paul's doctrine of the husband's primacy, we cannot -say that his attitude toward womankind was marked by anything other than -utmost respect. Just what his own domestic experiences were is a question -of age-long doubt. If we study his actual references to women we shall -find a series of compliments too deep to serve as the expression of a -superficial gallantry and too genuine to allow the author to be classed as -a hater of the mothers and sisters and wives of the race. Near the end of -his life Paul caught the vision of his Master. Beyond his wanderings he -saw a destination; above his imprisonments he saw a freedom; after his -shipwrecks he saw a haven; and the destination and freedom and haven were -all expressed in the words "at home." "At home," "at home with the Lord," -this was Paul's conception of the waiting heaven. He, too, exalted the -home by making it the forefigure of heaven. - -We have now presented enough to justify the statement that the Bible is -the stanch friend of the home. As long as men and women read and obey the -Book, and love and follow the Lord of the Book, their feet will turn -reverently homeward as to the place of God's appointing, as to the school -of God's own discipline, as to the place of God's own joy, and as to the -anteroom of God's own heaven. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE BIBLE AND EDUCATION - - -The man whose program of daily life suggests the outline of these chapters -awakes in the morning to the consciousness of himself. He is soon aware of -the presence of his family and catches the sense of home. Directly the -children are made ready for school and join that romping procession that -moves each day at the joint command of parents and teachers. In the normal -Christian community this fact of school-going is all but universal. In -such a community the illiterate person is so exceptional as to be a -curiosity; he is marked by separateness if not by distinction. All of us -have marched to school; all of us have had teachers. - -The fact is still more significant. School-going is not merely a general -experience; it is a long experience. It controls about one fourth of life. -Indeed, if we figure the average span of life, the school claims more than -one fourth of the individual career. Many persons continue formal school -work into the third decade, while many give a score and a half of years -in making educational preparation for the remaining twoscore years of the -allotment. - -Beyond this, the whole educational scheme involves countless millions of -dollars. Our bookkeeping is scarcely rapid enough to keep up with the -finances of the system. In our own country it really seems as if education -had become a primary passion. Our school buildings yearly become more -imposing and more costly. Our college endowments annually leap to more -generous figures. Our largest philanthropies seek the privilege of -enlarging educational opportunity. It thus requires no long observation to -convince any thoughtful man that our educational program, involving every -young life in the nation and ideally every young life on the planet, is of -incalculable meaning. Each morning an army of many millions, ranging from -wee kindergartners up to adult postgraduates, moves to the schoolroom -door. The whole scene is as impressive as it is human. The question -naturally comes, What started that procession? What inspiration keeps it -moving through the years? Is there one Book that leads in some forceful -way to the study of many books? Does the Bible have any sure relation -either to the enthusiasm or to the efficiency of our educational life? If -our friend of the day's program could discover the intricate influences -that unite in sending his children to the school, would he find that any -large credit must be assigned to the Book? - -The aim now is not to show the place that the Bible has had in the -curriculum of the world's education; nor yet is it to show the direct -effect that the Bible has had upon the world's instruction. The Bible has -been the supreme text-book, even as it has been the supreme force, in the -schools of nearly two millenniums. These facts have been well set forth in -many treatises. The purpose now is simpler and more meaningful: to trace -to its main sources the influence which the great Book has had upon the -intellectual life of the race. - -We are met at the outset by the singular fact that the Bible has little to -say specifically concerning education. Nowhere in its pages do we read the -command, "Thou shalt found schools." The literalist who started out to -find a biblical order for education, as such, would come back from an -unrewarded search. But we have long ago discovered that the silence of the -Bible does not constitute a commandment. There are some things that are -stronger than detailed orders. An outer law that has fought an inner -sanction has usually fared badly in history. On the other hand, the inner -sanction, unenforced by any objective form of obligation, has won some -big victories. An explicit command to act as an immortal is not so -powerful as the implicit conviction that we are immortal. It is safe to -declare that the implications of Scripture are often as deep and -influential as its explications. If, then, the flowers of knowledge bloom -not by command in the fields of the Bible, may we still find there the -seeds out of which such flowers inevitably grow? If the school building is -not definitely prescribed, as was the Temple of Solomon, does the Book -yield in a deeper sense the wood and stone and mortar by which the -building must surely rise? Answers to these figurative questions will go -far toward determining the relation of the Bible to education. The -contention now is that the Bible has been the fountain whence streams of -intellectual life have flowed, and that, minor influences being freely -admitted, these streams may be traced to the Scripture's implicit doctrine -of human responsibility. - -In discussing the bearing of the Bible on learning much has been made of -the example of the Bible's mightiest characters. This fact is striking, -and it lends itself to popular treatment. The average man takes a truth -more readily when it is offered to him in a human setting. Hence it may be -granted that the spirit of the Book in its influence on education has -been supplemented by its concrete examples. In the patriarchal era the -majestic figure is that of Abraham. Whatever the critics may say about the -historicity of his person, they can hardly doubt the historicity of the -intellectual process by which some "Father of the Multitude" must have -reached the creed of the divine unity and spirituality. We could not -expect, of course, to find organized education in the primitive days of -religious history. But, after all, education is relative. An eminent -American graduated from Harvard in 1836 when he was sixteen years of age. -In this day his sixteen years and his completed course of study would -barely admit him to the Freshman class. So Abraham's education must be -graded by the standard of his dim and far day. Tradition represents him as -reaching the central doctrine of the Jewish, Mohammedan, and Christian -faith by a method of reasoning. You may say of his physical journey that -he went out, not knowing whither he went, but you cannot say that of his -intellectual journey. While his feet pressed an unknown way, his mind and -heart traveled straight toward the discovered God. If the best educated -man of a period is he who sees most deeply and clearly into its essential -truths and problems, then the "Father of the Faithful," whoever he was -and whenever he came, was the supreme scholar of his generation. - -As the life of the chosen people reaches more definite form, the place of -education is more plainly seen. Doubtless most men would agree that Moses -was the arch figure of the Old Testament. He is represented, both by the -Scripture and by the tradition given among the Jewish historians, as -having the best mental furnishing of his day. The book of the Acts says of -him that he "was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." Clemens -Alexandrinus records that Moses had the finest teachers in Egypt, and that -the choicest scholars were imported from Greece and Assyria to instruct -the adopted prince in the arts and sciences of their respective countries. -Perhaps we must allow something for the idealizing habit here; but it is -significant that both sacred and secular history unite in declaring that -the Lawgiver was learned. - -In the era of Prophecy we find the same development, only it is more -speedy. Elijah may have been the crude and forceful son of mountain and -rock, but his successor is the product of one of the numerous "schools of -the prophets." Although intellectual training might be presumed to have -little to do with the stern function of Old Testament prophesying, the -"school" arrived quickly and began the training of the young men. -Criticism has not attacked the view that the book of Isaiah bears marks of -high culture. If that book had two authors, the ancient world is entitled -to the credit of a second scholar. When the radical is done with the story -of Daniel we have left at least the schoolroom in which the youthful -prophet gained his superior wisdom. It would appear that the examples of -the worthies of the Old Testament give slight encouragement to the idea -that any type of selection or any mood of afflatus may not be supplemented -by trained intellect in the kingdom of God. - -We need not halt long with the like lesson from the New Testament. Much -has been made of the fact that the twelve apostles were uneducated men. -Doubtless we often do their intellectual life scant justice. Desiring to -score in an argument, we give it out as an evidence of the divinity of the -faith that it conquered in spite of the disciples' lack of education. The -truth is that the New Testament does not warrant the application to the -apostles of such words as "illiterate." Some of them wrote books that have -moved the ages. But, whatever the fact be here, he would be wild indeed -who would find in ignorance any explanation of the gospel's victory. Let -us remember, moreover, that, when the "unlettered" Twelve were cramping -the universal faith into a local religion, the corrector of their blunder -was the "lettered" Paul. In his statement of experience he was ever ready -to say that he had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest Jewish -teacher of the day. After Christ Paul is the colossal figure of the New -Testament; and there are those who would confidently declare him the -greatest man who has walked the earth since Calvary. For a review of his -education, let anyone read a standard Life of the Apostle. We thus gather -the one result from both the Old and the New Testament. Moses was the -mightiest personality of the one, and Paul was the mightiest human -personality of the other; and both were highly educated. The signal -examples of the Bible range themselves on the side of education. - -As in all things else, so in the relation of the Bible to the intellectual -life we reach the climax only when we come to Christ. Here, too, we find -in the life of Christ that same element of paradox that we often find in -his words. That saving was losing, giving was getting, and dying was -living were apparently contradictory statements that real life proved to -be true. Where words seemed to fight each other, the deeper facts were -found to live in peace. So Jesus in his personal influence was ever -reaching goals of which the paths did not give promise. This is seen -peculiarly in his relation to the intellectual life. He left no -manuscripts. The only time he is represented as writing was when he wrote -the sentence of the sinning woman on the forgetful sands of the earth. Yet -he who wrote no books has filled the world with books. Something in him -quickly evoked Gospels and Epistles which were forerunners of a marvelous -literature. Even this moment thousands of pens are being moved by him. He -wrote no books, and still he writes books evermore. - -It was so with his relation to the schools. Men tell us that the -incarnation imposed a limitation on intellect--that it involved a kenosis, -an emptying of knowledge even as of power. Be that as it may, our human -explanations do not easily reach the mystery of his influence on the -schools of the world. Did the boy Jesus go to school in Nazareth? Was his -mother his only earthly teacher? Did his neighbors speak literal truth in -the question, "Whence hath this man wisdom, having never learned"? The -silent years give no answer to the questions. But this we do know: He who -went to school slightly or not at all has sent a world to school. He who -founded no immediate institution of learning has dotted the planet with -colleges. His schoolroom was itinerant and unroofed. It moved quickly from -town to city, from capital to desert, from mountain to seashore. We have -dignified it with a great name. The school of Jesus, whose plant and -endowment and faculty all centered in one life, is named "the College of -Apostles." - -He said to them, "Go, teach." They went and they taught. They were not -deliberate founders of schools. But the heart of Jesus contained schools, -and they, having gotten their hearts from him, carried schools with them. -When the gospel reached England and Germany, education reached those -countries and began to thrive. The vast majority of the first one hundred -colleges founded in America were builded by the followers of the Great -Teacher. - -Now, this unique relation of Jesus to the educational life of men is not -accidental. Subtle as are the laws which determine it, those laws work -effectively. They are elusive, but once in a while we glimpse their ways -and meanings. The New Testament seems to feel their presence. It calls -Christ a Teacher. Forty-three times it uses his name in connection with -the word "teach" in its various forms. The world gets the same impression. -It persists in calling Jesus the Greatest Teacher. It must note the -schoolroom phrases with which the account of his life is filled. The -prologue of his wonderful message on the Mount illustrates this. "And -seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, -his disciples came unto him; and he opened his mouth, and taught them." -The posture of Jesus was that of the teacher. His audience was made up of -"disciples," that is, of pupils. He "taught" them. All this might be -called a superficial play upon mere words. But we may go further and -discover that the method of Jesus was the method of the teacher. He put -his effort into other lives in order that these lives might, within their -various limitations, duplicate his own. His work was largely devoted to -the preparation of a select few. Often he left hundreds and thousands that -he might be alone with Twelve. He poured himself into his disciples, his -scholars. He thus did what every true teacher must do: He committed the -cause of his life to those whom he schooled into faith and character and -power. - -Nor did the teaching method halt here. The good teacher makes the things -of the earth serve as approaches to the highest developments. This Jesus -did supremely. Long before men made "nature study" an educational fad, -Jesus made it an ethical and spiritual service. He pressed flowers, -mustard seeds, grapes, wine, thistles, corn, figs, into the lessons of -his roving school. He made nature study so effective that along a path of -lilies men walked to God. When it was necessary to individualize in order -to come to this high result, Jesus took up that burden of teaching. His -school, like all other schools since its day, enrolled "a son of thunder." -It took the love that suffered long to make John, the son of thunder and -lightning and vaulting ambition, into the son of tender love. It took the -patience that knows no failure to change the shifting sand of Simon's -nature into the rock of Peter's character. All these considerations will -convince us that we may go to Christ with the pedagogical, as well as with -the religious motive. We do not wonder that a man should have crept to him -in the darkness and should have said, "We know that thou art a teacher." - -There is yet another side of the subject that calls for emphasis. The -Bible and Jesus give the ideal of the intellectual life, an omniscient -God. The God who is perfect in character is often lifted before us. We -hear the voice saying, "Be ye holy; for I the Lord your God am holy." Yet -we interpret the call narrowly. Christ has come to us with the call to -purity. To the attentive he comes just as truly with the call to -knowledge. He has given us a gospel for the body, and that gospel teaches -that drunkards and other defilers of the human temple of God cannot -inherit his kingdom. He has given us a gospel for the spirit, and that -gospel commands that the inmost realm of life be given to his sway. He has -likewise given us a gospel of the mind, and that gospel cannot be omitted -from the fullness of the blessing of Christ. The God revealed in Christ -knows all things. He counts the hairs of our heads. He marks the petals of -the flowers. He notes the fall of the sparrows. He is all-knowing and -all-wise. - -Even though the ideal be a staggering one, we are still told to be like -God. Some day we shall appreciate more the duty that speaks to us in -Jesus's revelation of an omniscient God. As yet we hardly dare press to -its full meaning the call implied in that revelation. We have said that -the man who neglects and stunts and poisons his body is a sinner. We have -said that the man who dwarfs and represses his spirit is a sinner. Are we -ready to say that the man who gives his mind no chance, the man who fails -to move on to the ideal of an omniscient God, is likewise a sinner? Is -God's perfect spirit a goal for his children, and is God's perfect mind -removed from our vision of duty? If we are to start on the endless march -that leads to the purity of God, are we freed from the obligation of -starting on the endless march that leads to his knowledge? We may shrink -from the conclusion that is here involved; and our shrinking may be only -an added evidence that we have omitted one element from the divine ideal. - -Just here we are struck with the consciousness that we shall need some -great dynamic, if we are ever to start toward this unspeakable goal. -Evidently we have not reached the last thing in Christ's relation to -education. Confucius was a great teacher, but his system has not produced -schools. Mohammed was a great teacher, but his system has left his -followers wallowing in ignorance. Though Mohammedanism has proclaimed an -omniscient God, somehow that beacon on the infinite height has not coaxed -the Turk on to its shining. Mohammedanism has offered the ideal, but it -has lacked the power. On the contrary the system of Jesus seems to have -had a genius for diffusing education. It has been a vast normal school. -The purer and freer and more spiritual its form, the mightier has it been -as an educational force. If we list the nations of the earth in classes -with reference to literacy and illiteracy, we shall find that the farther -the nations are from the Bible, the more dense is their ignorance. We -shall find, too, that where the people are the freest in their relation -to the Bible, there the ignorance is least. Plainly the Bible with its -crowning revelation in Christ does furnish something of a dynamic toward -education. The school has been the inevitable companion of the church. -This is because the church, in addition to giving a list of inspiring -examples, and in addition to lifting up the uttermost ideal, has also -emphasized an obligation under the leadership of the ever-present Spirit. -It remains to show the nature of the obligation which the Spirit has -enforced with reference to knowledge. Perhaps this can be done more -clearly by taking the attitude of the Scriptures toward slavery as -illustrating their attitude toward ignorance. - -When Jesus faced his audiences he looked upon men who were in bondage as -well as upon men who were in ignorance. It is frequently said that Christ -did not attack slavery. In the days before the war the biblical -literalist, who believed in freedom, had a hard time with his Bible. He -found that the Bible did not condemn slavery, but that the Bible did give -concerning it certain regulations. The pro-slavery orators made good use -of the letter to Philemon. The people who believed in human liberty, and -who likewise believed in a mechanical and verbal theory of biblical -inspiration, passed through intellectual agony in the period of -anti-slavery agitation. If human bondage was the sum of all villainies, -why did not Jesus condemn it with unsparing invective? Why did not the -apostles enter upon an immediate crusade for its downfall? - -The answer is that Christ in the deepest way did condemn slavery, and that -the apostles in the realest way did begin their crusade. They gathered no -visible army, and they enforced no written statute, but Christ stated and -his followers promulgated a conception of humanity that prophesied the -melting of all chains. Usually the claim is that the Golden Rule was the -primary foe of slavery, but the Golden Rule is of little force, apart from -that doctrine of human personality that pervades the New Testament. Give -that doctrine power, and it would refuse to live in the same world with -slavery. That doctrine, under a Captain, was a delivering army. That -doctrine, under a King, was an Emancipation Proclamation. The Golden Rule -had been given in negative form by Confucius, and it went to sleep in his -maxims. That rule had been uttered negatively by Plato, but it nestled -quietly in his poetry. Hillel approached the positive statement of the -rule, but he does not get credit for being its author. The glory of a -truth lies with the one who gives it power. Jesus made the Golden Rule -leap to its feet. He turned it into a most effective traveler. It praised -God on its wide journeys. It began to work wonders. - -That work was slow, but it was both sure and thorough. The Rule had power -behind its saying. At length the Spirit carried that gracious weapon over -the seas and laid it in the hearts of Clarkson and Wilberforce. Soon the -English flag floated over freemen everywhere. Again the Spirit carried the -doctrine over other seas and lodged it in the hearts of Lovejoy, Phillips, -and Garrison. Directly four million sable faces were glowing with the -light of liberty. Jesus had said, "If the Son therefore shall make you -free, ye shall be free indeed." The word had essentially a spiritual -meaning, but it was worked out, also, in a splendid literalness. The Son -made men free, not primarily by the force of law, nor yet primarily by the -violence of armies, but rather by the conquest of disposition. The honor -of the victory is with the Bible theory of humanity, made strong with the -power of Christ. - -Now what the truth of the Bible did in tearing down slavery, it is -continually doing in routing ignorance. The connection is subtle, but it -is vitally real. The doctrine of personal responsibility is atmospheric in -the Bible. It is equally comprehensive. Men are held responsible for -their bodies. Drunkenness, adultery, and all forms of sensuality are -condemned. This is at the bottom of life. But at the top of life firmer -stress is placed. The spirit of man is made a field of reckoning. The -divine dominion over motive is strongly asserted. And that comprehensive -responsibility claims the mind. The first great commandment of the new -dispensation is that we must "love God with all the strength, with all the -soul, with all the _mind_." Men may differ about the precise meaning of -the mind's love for the Lord, but the Christian sense of duty has asserted -it in strange fashions. From vast revivals young men and women have gone -forward intellectually and have sought the higher education. Conversion -has set free their intellects and has made them feel the duty of -intellectual development. The pressure of the Christian ideal has been on -them. They have answered the call of the God who is infinitely good, and -they must now answer the call of the God who is infinitely wise. An -elusive intellectual law is written sure and large in the code of the -Great Kingdom. It is as certainly a commandment of God as if it had been -thundered among the crags and lightnings of a new Sinai. - -The conviction of the church at this point has not always come to -definition; nor has it always risen even to consciousness. For all that, -it has risen to practical life and has struggled always for outward -expression. Feeling that the empire of God is over all of life, man must -submit his mind to the divine rule. Hence it follows that the man who is -intellectually lazy, as well as the man who is intellectually dishonest, -is a sinner. This statement may shock those who have a surplus of caution, -but these may reassure themselves with the conviction that any theory may -be fearlessly accepted, if it brings us face to face with God at any point -of our total life. The failure to follow this biblical idea has brought a -penalty always. No denomination that has fought or slurred education has -led a large and victorious life; on the contrary it has invariably become -one of the fading and dwindling forces of God's work. The God of wisdom is -evermore against the promoters of ignorance. So do we find that, by the -examples of its greatest characters, by the life of its Greatest Teacher -and its ruling Lord, by the vision of its supreme ideal, by the assertion -of its inclusive theory of consecration, and by the divine dynamic which -it brings to bear upon the mind, the Bible has become the steadfast friend -of proper education. It has opened the doors of countless schools and has -bidden the children of men to enter the portals of learning with the -assurance that all truth is of God. - -The Bible renders education the service of inspiration, and it renders it -the service of proper restraint. When any one faculty of human life -becomes a monarch it always makes for trouble. Zeal without knowledge -tends to breakage; knowledge without zeal tends to waste. The Bible does -not make intellect all. Man has mind, and he must use that. Man has -sensibility, and he must use that. Man has will, and he must use that. Man -must get the truth out of his integral self rather than out of his -fractional self. The man who does not use his heart and will in the -gaining of truth is just as faithless as is the man who will not use his -mind. Without attempting to use psychological terms with exactness, we may -say that Jesus brought in the reign of the practical intellect, which gets -truth from all there is of man. Even as truth comes not from the naked -will of God, nor yet out of his cold thought, but rather out of the full -nature of the Infinite, so truth finds man, not at some one point of his -being, but in the glowing center of his whole life. - -We may assert, also, that the Bible saves education from frigidity. -Tennyson speaks of "the freezing reason's colder part." We all know the -meaning of the phrase. Jesus put into the search for truth the mood of -humility. The method of learning was obedience. Obedience is the organ of -intellectual vision as well as of spiritual vision. The method of Jesus -was not merely for the spiritual life, as men speak in their fragmentary -way; it was a universal method. It takes humility to make the beginnings -of a scholar, and weariness and shame of ignorance, and faith in an -intellectual empire, and a high trust that the mind is made for truth, and -the truth for mind. Ere we have done, we have a huge creed wrapped up in -our intellectual processes. But the creed has been saved from its cold -pride. The Bible says in one of its marginal readings, "Knowledge puffeth -up; love buildeth up." Knowledge alone may be swollen with pride, and the -higher demand of the Bible would save from that disaster. This gives us -the clue to more than one biblical sentence. There is a "science falsely -so called." There is a sense in which "not many wise after the flesh are -called." These implied warnings are not the cries of prejudice. They stand -for the effort to touch learning with humility, which alone can save it -from being distant and icy. - -The good Book rescues education from a selfish inaction. There was a -living and serving element in Jesus's relation to the intellectual life. -He did not deal in barren metaphysics or in helpless abstractions. His -truth went to work. He fastened it to life's burdens, and they were -lifted. He dropped it amid life's problems, and they were solved. He cast -it against life's temptations, and they were defeated. He attached it to -life's duties, and they were fulfilled. He sought those truths with which -men had to dwell. He never attempted to set forth the essential mystery of -things. He was no dealer in an intellectual cure-all. He spoke with -authority and yet with reverent limitation. There was a great reserve in -his explanations. Yet in the realm where men must live their present -lives, Jesus gave enough truth to keep men busy all their days. Here again -comes in the question of dynamic. Men sometimes prate about their "love of -truth." The intellectual life, like the religious life, may be guilty of -cant. It takes more than an open mind to get the truth; it takes a working -mind. Truth does not come to the passive man by way of transfer. One -teaching of the parable of the virgins is that, while the coarser goods of -life may be transferred, the finer goods of life must be won by spiritual -effort. It takes dynamic to secure a real intellect. Perception may see a -truth, but only inward power can use the truth. Jesus conferred that -power. He gave us the truth in the doctrine about God. He gave us the way -in the spirit of obedience. He gave us the life in the willingness to make -the truth the servant of the world for the sake of Christ. - -This leads us to the biblical idea of consecrated intellect. As we have -often failed to indicate the sin of needless ignorance, so have we failed -to point out the sin of an unconsecrated mind. All truth can be dedicated -to Christ. His great call to-day is for more men with the highest culture -placed under the thrall of his grace and under the guiding power of the -Spirit whom he sends--more Luthers from Wittenberg, more Wesleys from -Oxford, more Pauls from Gamaliel's school; more men from all our modern -seats of learning who will know that gifts of learning can be placed at -the service of the King and that all science and philosophy and literature -may be placed at the foot of the Cross. In the coming day of the Christian -intellect - - Mind and heart, according well - May make one music as before, - But vaster. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE BIBLE AND WORK - - -The frank purpose of the present lecture is to discuss the relation of the -Bible to the moral and spiritual aspects of work. The aim is not a study -in economics. Without doubt the Bible stands for justice; and without -doubt, also, the intent of the Bible is to make just men. But the great -Book does not give an infallible table of wages; neither does it offer any -sure rules whereby we can determine the working value of any particular -individual. It declares that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," and it -leaves the details to be wrought out by men whom it summons to the spirit -of justice and love. Interested as we may be in the economic problems of -our day, we must still rejoice that the Bible does not surrender its work -of inspiration in an effort at mechanical guidance. The wage scale must -necessarily vary with the conditions of living; and, therefore, a textbook -of money wages would have made a cumbersome volume with most of its pages -as lifeless as the Book of the Dead. The very suggestion ends in -ridiculousness. The effort of the Bible is not to give directions for -working machines, but to give motives to working men. It is not a -taskmaster, but a task-inspirer. - -True toil of whatever sort is in need of inspiration. It must go by system -and by schedule, and the element of monotony makes itself felt. The man -leaves his home six mornings of the week and takes up his accustomed task. -The bell calls him to work at an appointed hour, and it dismisses him by -the demand of the clock. The husband goes to the store or office or -factory to do the same things again and ever again, while the wife goes -about the household duties that have engrossed her on thousands of -previous days. One of the victories of life is to be a worker and not to -be a drudge. We have all known people who have not won that victory. Their -work is a grim necessity. It is not acquainted with poetry or with music. -When the idealist speaks of the man who sings at his toil, they sneer at -his sentimentalism or they doubt his sincerity. Work is a ceaseless grind; -it is a dreary round; it is a hard compulsion. The poet who wields a pen -may tell the man who wields a pick that work is joy and refreshment and -liberty, but the sour toiler will regard his teacher as a condescending -comforter. The complaint of many people is not simply that they must make -bricks without straw, but that they must make bricks at all. In their -vocabulary pleasure contrasts with labor because labor itself is pain. -They are weary in their work and weary of their work. The only ideal for -this sort of laborer is that he may labor so successfully as to be able -some day to get on without labor. This man is the drudge. - -Oddly enough, he has had his theological partners. There have been Bible -students who have held that all work is a penalty of the Fall. They say -that when God said to Adam, "In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat -bread," he entered toil among the punishments of life. Undoubtedly sin -adds to the hardship of work, especially if the sin be the sin of a wrong -attitude. Thorns and thistles do prosper more around the broken gate of -the sluggard. The earnest expectation of a groaning and travailing -creation does wait for the revealing of the sons of God. Discontent puts -its evil reflex on the muscles. The rebellious worker is ever the tired -worker. But even the literal story of Eden does not give the ideal of -worklessness. Adam had been placed in the garden "to dress it and to keep -it." Wherever God places the man, he places the task for the man. Any -other conception of life is unworthy and utterly irreligious. A silly -theology that puts a premium on idleness is not born of the God that -"worketh hitherto." Still the view that work is a curse persists even -after the theory that encouraged the view has gone to the discard. The -sanctified escape the fret of work, but they do not escape its fact. The -Perfect Life, as we shall later see, was the life of a Worker. - -Admitting, as we all must, that work is sometimes tragic because it lacks -its proper outer reward, we may still contend that often its deepest -tragedy is a wrong attitude of spirit. Doubtless much of this comes from -maladjustment. Some idealists believe that if every man were given his own -task, every man would be happy at that task. Kipling so states it in the -"L'Envoi" of "The Seven Seas." He sees the good time when there shall be -an adjustment between man and his task. The lower motives for work shall -all be done away, and the one satisfying motive shall abide. - - And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame, - And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame, - But each for the joy of the working, and each in his separate star, - Shall draw the thing as he sees it, for the God of things as they are. - -Ideal as this is, it gets a response from us all. Besides there are some -foretokens of this age of joyful toil. Usually these are seen most clearly -in work that has a relation to beauty. The woman works cheerfully at her -fine embroidery, and she works just as cheerfully over the flowers in her -garden. With men the form of toil that stands for genuine achievement -often becomes not only a pleasure but a veritable passion. Where a -spiritual motive allures, work frequently becomes the gladness of life. -Agassiz declined to accept the remunerative call to lecture by saying, "I -am only a teacher. I cannot afford to make money." Wesley poured back into -his work all the results of his work and died a poor man whereas he might -have become rich. In America college professors have been known to save -their meager salaries in order that they might return their slight estates -to endow more fully the institutions for which they labored. They received -from their work so that they could give back to their work. - -The more we study cases of this fine sort, the more will we be impressed -that the workers labored under the biblical sense of life. The men just -mentioned were all profound believers in God, and they lived their lives -as under his eye. Hence they saw their portion of work as a part of the -infinite whole that makes for the kingdom of God. There is a story of a -workingman who, standing on the street opposite the Cathedral of Cologne, -was overheard saying, "Didn't we do a fine job over there?" Turning about, -the listener saw a rough hand pointing at the wonderful cathedral. "What -did you do?" he asked the man. The reply was, "I mixed the mortar for -several years." The tale was told by the thoughtless as being humorous. It -is, however, serious and beautiful. That workman had gotten the vision of -himself as a partner in a plan that covered centuries of grand toil. He -was a helper of God in the fashioning of his temple. In reality he had -joined the company of Hiram and of Solomon. Now all honest work must have -a direction that is both long and high. It reaches down into the years of -men. It reaches upward into the heart of God. Precisely this idealism is -needed in order that toil may be redeemed from its drudgery. George Eliot -gives us a striking illustration of it in her tribute to Stradivari, the -maker of violins. This immortal mechanic is said to have had a reverence -for his labor. He felt that, whereas God gave men skill to play, God -depended on Stradivari to furnish the instruments. He was the partner of -the Most High. God had chosen Stradivari as a helper. Hence he could say, - - God be praised, - Antonio Stradivari has an eye - That winces at false work and loves the true, - With hand and arm that play upon the tool - As willingly as any singing bird - Sets him to sing his morning roundelay, - Because he likes to sing and likes the song. - -We may not all have this attitude toward our work, but we are all -idealists enough to wish that we felt just that way. The singing workman -is not altogether a figment of the imagination; neither is his spirit -impossible in the day that now is. The men who regard work as a blessing, -and not as a penalty and a curse, are found in many trades and -professions. They are the forerunners of the Eden life. Certainly the main -teaching of the Bible, that labor is designed to aid in the bringing in of -the kingdom of God, must give to the honest laborers in every realm an -exalted joy. - -This primary consideration is joined by the human examples of the Bible. -We find in its pages a procession of workers, and from this procession God -selects many of his chosen leaders. Moses was tending his flock on the -hillside when the voice of the Lord summoned him to his manifold -leadership. Saul was seeking his father's cattle when he found the kingdom -of which he was to be king. David was busy in the sheepfold when the -prophet called him to his work as warrior and monarch. Ruth was gleaning -in the fields, in her pathetic effort to care for her widowed -mother-in-law and herself, when she found her way into happiness and into -the ancestry of our Lord. Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press -when he was drafted for the campaign that was to break the power of the -Midianites. Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen when the mantle of -Elijah was cast over his shoulders. Nehemiah was serving as cupbearer to -the king when he evoked from Artaxerxes the permission to return and -rebuild the walls of his beloved city. Amos was among the herdsmen of -Tekoa when the word of God took him captive and sent him to his prophetic -career. These are the instances in the Old Testament where mention is made -of the form of toil from which God called men to some spiritual service. -Without doubt the full record would show that other signal servants -received their commissions while they were faithfully performing their -duties on threshing floors, out in the fields, and within counting-rooms. - -The New Testament is less specific in its descriptions, but it often gives -us the like hint. Matthew was at the seat of custom when he was invited -into the fellowship of the disciples that he might tell men of the eternal -exchange. James and John were engaged in their occupation as fishermen -when they heard the voice on the shore and pulled their boat over the blue -waves that they might become fishers of men. The shepherds were in -faithful watch over their flocks by night when they heard the evangel of -song and were startled by the message of peace. The illustrations make us -feel that the favorite meeting place of God with man is the meeting place -of man with his work. A motto says that "the best reward of good work is -more good work to do." The providence of God upholds the motto. The Bible -shows a preference for the workers as against the shirks. It puts the -premium on industry, whether the type of toil be manual or spiritual. - -Here, as in all other themes of real life, we come to Christ for our -highest teaching and our best example. We have noted elsewhere that he -made the home the illustration of our relations with God; and we now note -that he made the common work of earth the illustration of our -responsibility for service to God. This he did so often and so urgently -that we are driven to feel that work was not only the form of illustration -but also the form of service itself. How many parables did he gain from -the ways of toil? He would say, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto--," -and straightway his hearers' minds were sent to the places where men -wrought for their daily bread. In most places the blanks can be supplied -by some form of employment. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto--" a -merchant and his pearls; a sower and his field; a woman and her leaven; a -fisherman and his net; a husbandman and his vineyard; a merchant traveler -and the intrusted talents. Where his words were used as deft and quick -illustrations rather than as lengthy and formal parables, he gathered his -material from the realms of toil. The builder and the house; the shepherd -and the sheep; the axman and the tree; the tailor and the cloth; the -housewife and the coin; the rich man and his steward; the woman and her -grinding; the man and his plowing; the watchman and his vigil; the -husbandman and the vine; all these entered into his speech as showing what -God would expect of men. Here we have almost a cyclopedia of labors. -Inasmuch as Jesus commended the qualities shown in these various phases of -service, we are allowed to think that he regarded the legitimate -occupations of everyday life as both representing and fulfilling the -kingdom of God. Nor will reverent thought be satisfied with any less -comprehensive view. There would be a dread of living if we were made to -feel that the work which we must do, both to meet our own sense of -self-respect and to provide for the needs of ourselves and our beloved, -was either in opposition to the grace of God or stood for neutral -territory between the realms of good and evil. The teaching of Jesus saves -us from that practical atheism. He allows every honest man to take the -oft-repeated phrase, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto--," and to -complete a portion of its meaning from his own form of labor. If a man is -engaged in any task that makes sacrilege and blasphemy when it is used to -fill out the sentence, then let that man look well to his own heart and -life. Every man's work should serve as a parable of Christ. - -But Jesus was not simply the doctrinaire of toil; he was its exemplar. The -emphasis here is usually placed upon the fact that Christ was a carpenter. -He transformed crude materials into useful tools. An overdone stress on -this point is itself a confession that manual toil needs an apologist! The -significant thing is that such a stress is wholly absent from the speech -and attitude of Jesus. With him carpentry seems to have been a natural -part of life. He never refers to it as something that he had outgrown. His -backward look toward the occupation of his youth betrays no condescension, -like to that occasionally seen in so-called self-made men! After he had -left the carpenter's bench he said, "I work." When he saw the night -closing down about him, the brevity of the working day became an incentive -to more work, and he said, "I must work." Even in the agony we can catch -the exultation of the cry, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me -to do." It was his meat to finish his "work." Jesus did the appointed task -for each period of his life. Then he passed on to the task of the next -period without the least hint that the varying tasks were not joined in -the harmony of the divine purpose. The work of his life was like his -garment; it was all of one piece. From the building of the Nazareth -cottage on to the building of the "many mansions," there is no -consciousness of contradiction. With Jesus the working life was a unity. - -And at the risk of being mechanical in the use of bungling divisions we -may declare that Jesus entered into all the large divisions of toil. The -note of universality is seen here as it is seen elsewhere. We have been -told that the three forms of temptation that Jesus encountered on mountain -top and temple pinnacle exhaust all the types. It has been said, too, that -the thankfulness of Jesus is directed toward all the channels by which the -good of life can flow in upon us. This same characteristic of universality -appears in the work of Christ. As a carpenter he worked upon material -things. As a healer he worked upon the bodies of men. As a teacher he -worked upon the minds of men. As a preacher he worked upon the souls of -men. All the workers of the world can be brought into one of these -divisions, and so all true workers can enter into partnership with Jesus. -We call him the Carpenter, the Great Physician, the Greatest Teacher, the -World's Saviour! The manual toilers claim him. The doctors claim him. The -teachers claim him. The evangelists claim him. He is at home in the shop, -in the hospital, in the schoolroom, and in the temple. All the classes of -toilers can appeal to the sanction of his example. - -Still we must again assert that these clumsy divisions were not emphasized -by Jesus himself. There has been an age-long debate, ofttimes degenerating -into a wrangle, as to the relative hardships of the different forms of -labor. Men who cling to their occupations will still declare that those -occupations have trials beyond all others. Into this debate Jesus did not -enter. He never set one form of toil against another by entering into any -comparisons or contrasts. As he experienced all the general forms of -labor, so did he honor all forms. In his view they were all good and all -cooperative. On the surface they may seem to be rivals, but in the center -they are actual partners in the divine program. Hence Jesus passed from -one realm of work to another with little sense of transition. Carpenter, -Healer, Teacher, Preacher, he was ever the servant of the Kingdom. -Faithfulness, honor, industry, efficiency, patience--in short, all the -virtues were possible in any good way of work. The life of Jesus unites -all our types of labor in a divine purpose and rebukes that quarrelsome -spirit which so often sets the manual laborers and the mental and moral -laborers in opposition. The hand cannot say to the head, "I have no need -of thee," nor can the head utter the like speech of egotism and -self-sufficiency. The workers are all one body, and every one members of -another. - -So do we find Jesus putting himself with willing sacrifice into his -varying tasks. He had said to his parents in Jerusalem, "Wist ye not that -I must be amid my Father's matters?" and then he went into what men call -the silent years. But they were not wholly silent. The attentive can hear -the sound of the hammer. The point is that in passing from the Jerusalem -temple to the Nazareth shop Jesus did not depart from his Father's -business. We may all resent the particular descriptions of the quality of -his work as a carpenter; and we may be quite content in our faith that -all his work was done faithfully and well. Holman Hunt's "Shadow of the -Cross" relates Jesus's work in the shop to his sacrificial character. At -the end of a weary day the Nazareth Carpenter extends his arms to relieve -his weariness. The sunshine coming through the window casts his shadow on -the wall in the form of a Cross. His mother glancing in through another -window sees the Cross foreshadowed there and gets her glimpse of the sword -that should enter her own heart. Nor did Jesus escape hardship and -exhaustion when he became a healer and teacher of the people. The crowds -thronged him wherever he went. The hillside became like an open-air -hospital. The multitudes hung upon his words of instruction. Some have -said that one reason why he commanded men who were healed or who were told -the deeper secret of his nature that they "should tell no man," was that -he might avoid the greater press of the throngs. Be that as it may, we are -surely justified in saying that he gave himself lavishly to the work of -each period. In each section of his life his action said, "I must work." - -It would be easy, however, to overstate Jesus's relation to work. He did -not labor all the time. Knowing how to toil he knew likewise how to rest. -Men may plead the example of Satan against a vacation season, but they -cannot plead the example of Christ! He rested after he had worked and in -order that he might work again. When the crowd became importunate and the -drain upon his power had become severe, he sought the desert and in its -quiet restored himself for the new labors. He bade his weary disciples to -come apart to the spot of respite. He was the exemplar of proper rest even -as he was the exemplar of proper work. Industrious men often need one -lesson even as lazy men need the other. There are persons who are greedy -of toil. They are as avaricious for it as the miser is for gold. They are -what Carlyle would call "terrible toilers." They die before their time -because they work after their time. Jesus knew this danger. He wished to -guard against it by keeping the Sabbath for man. He wanted to save the -resting place between the weeks because he wanted to save man to his best -self and work. He prescribed the working day and the shop, and he -prescribed the resting day and the desert. - -We need not be surprised, then, to find that the new day puts the emphasis -on the sanctification of common work. Professor Peabody gives the contrast -between two well-known poems as illustrating a change that has come over -the personal side of the social question. A generation since Lowell gave -us his "Vision of Sir Launfal." The hero of this poem, after traveling in -many lands, finally finds the holy grail in the cup which he had filled -for a way-side beggar, while the more personal presence of Jesus is -discovered in the beggar himself to whom the searcher has given alms. The -characteristic of the new day is seen in Van Dyke's "The Toiling of -Felix." The hero of this later poem, after seeking the direct vision of -his Lord in caves and deserts of idle contemplation, at last secures the -coveted revelation as he enters gladly into a life of toil and -particularly as he flings himself into the swollen river to rescue a -fellow laborer. Felix finds that there is a holy literalness in the words -which he found on the piece of papyrus as a recovered gospel of Christ: - - Lift the stone, and thou shalt find me; - Cleave the wood, and there am I. - -The ranks of labor are "the dusty regiments of God." The Lord, being a -worker, is mindful of his own: - - Born within the Bethlehem manger where the cattle round me stood, - Trained a carpenter of Nazareth, I have toiled and found it good. - -The good work of the world is the work of Christ. There is really no -contrast between sacred and secular; the actual contrast is between the -sacred and the wicked. - - They who tread the path of labor, follow where Christ's feet have trod, - They who work without complaining, do the holy will of God. - - * * * * * - - This is the Gospel of labor--ring it, ye bells of the kirk, - The Lord of Love came down from above to live with the men who work. - -The inevitable drift of this emphasis on the working experience of Jesus -has swept admiration away from the monastic life. The "religious" are not -those who shun the world of toil in order that they may gain the world of -personal peace and salvation. The modern saint is not a Simon the Stylite. -Saint Francis of Assisi projects himself into the admiration of the -twentieth century because he was a worker rather than a recluse. The -attitude toward monasticism among the healthier and more energetic peoples -goes further than this: there is a feeling that in the last analysis the -religious hermit is spiritually selfish. That is deemed a poor kind of -religion which forsakes a world in order to save one's soul. The argument -that the recluses may render the world the service of constant prayer does -not appeal to those who know that work is itself a form of prayer; and -that in Jesus prayer and work lived together in harmony. A better -understanding of the religion of Christ demands that its followers shall -be socially efficient. If Jesus is to be the world's example, more and -more men and women will find in their legitimate toil one of the -sacraments of life. - -Already we have come to feel that the Bible doctrine of work, especially -as that doctrine is incarnated in Christ, lays stress upon the man as well -as upon his task. It asks, "What is the man doing with his work?" It also -asks, "What is the work doing with the man?" The reflexes of activity -often become a topic of teaching. Paul said that the man reaps the harvest -of his own sowing. Jesus said, "With what measure ye mete, it shall be -measured to you again." This is much as if he had said that in the upper -realms of living action and reaction are equal and in opposite directions. -He told his disciples that, if they pronounced the benediction of peace -upon a house unfit or unwilling to receive it, the benediction should -return to them again. The meaning is that no work done with the right -spirit can really fail. The poets give this idea currency. George Herbert -declares that a servant with the proper clause in his creed makes -"drudgery divine": - - Who sweeps a room as to thy law - Makes that and the action fine. - -He had already implied that such a servant made himself fine. Mrs. -Browning emphasizes the need of a serious purpose in work when she uses -her picturesque description: - - I would rather dance at fairs on tight rope - Till the babies dropped their gingerbread for joy, - Than shift the types for tolerable verse, intolerable - To men who act and suffer. Better far - Pursue a frivolous trade by serious means - Than a sublime art frivolously. - -It is "better far" because our seriousness comes back to dwell with us; -and our frivolousness does the same. Many of the parables get their -meaning from this certainty of reaction. The good shepherd is good because -he does his work well, and the return of his work makes him better still. -Just as physical work reacts on the muscles, so that sometimes men -exercise without any outward object in view, even so does the moral spirit -of work come back to dwell with the man and to make his last estate either -better or worse. Our bodies are built into strength by a series of -reactions, and our spirits evermore receive their own with usury. - -This idea, as we have observed in another connection, has wrought some -marked changes in the social program. It has largely superseded -almsgiving by workgiving. Scientific charity seeks to remove the causes of -poverty, knowing that this is the sure way to remove poverty itself. The -conviction is that a day's work with a day's pay is far better for the man -than a day's pay without the day's work. In the latter case the man loses -both independence and self-respect, while in the former case he keeps both -of these and gains in addition the rebound of faithful labor. The tramp, -or the man with the heart of a tramp, always fails. Outwitting others, he -outwits himself more truly. He plays tricks on his own soul. The weakness -of his life settles back into his spirit. He drags with him always his -evasions and neglects. Scamping his toil, he scamps his own soul. All -shoddy material gets built into his own being. He erects a dishonest house -for another, but with it he erects an evil structure in which he himself -must live. So it is that a man's work may be his blessing, or it may be -his vengeance. - -While this idea has its terrible side, it has also its side of glory and -comfort. It provides amply for the failure of the faithful. Goldsmith says -that "Good counsel rejected returns to enrich the giver's bosom," just as -Jesus says the declined benediction of peace comes back to the true -disciple. It follows that for the good workman there is no real failure. -The house that he has builded may go up in smoke and flame, but the -industry and honor that fashioned its walls and fashioned themselves in -the making of the walls cannot be destroyed. The fortune that he has -gathered may take wings and fly away, but the deeper treasures that have -been garnered by fair-dealing in the marketplace abide in the deposit of -the heart. Jesus said, "Your hearts shall rejoice, and your joy no man -taketh from you." We see here that there are possessions that human power -cannot remove. They have been woven into the self. The treasure house is -too deep for the touch of man. A minor poet tells us: - - I've found some wisdom in my quest - That's richly worth retailing; - I've found that when one does his best - There's little harm in failing. - -He corrects this mild statement in his concluding verse. He wanted riches, -but he was rich without them; he wanted to sound the depths with his -philosophy, but his ship sailed on anyhow; he wanted fame; but he -discovered the secret of greatness without it; and so he adds the lines -which declare that the failing of the faithful not only does "little -harm," but even that it furnishes its own enrichment of the real life: - - I may not reach what I pursue, - Yet will I keep pursuing; - Nothing is vain that I can do; - For soul-growth comes from doing. - -David "does well" that it is in his heart to build the Lord's house, even -though the honor be passed on to another. The good purpose helps to make -the good man; and the good purpose that expresses itself in work is sure -of the inner reward. This conception may be twisted into a soft gospel for -the inefficient; but the evident purpose of the Bible is to offer it as a -comforting gospel for the faithful. - -It would be easy to follow the guidance of the Concordance as it notes the -word "work" in the Epistles. All of the conceptions that have thus far -been treated reappear in the apostolic writings. The symbol of everyday -work is constantly lifted to the highest. We do not need to see Paul -bending over the sailcloth and thrusting his needle into the canvas ere we -know that he is a worker. His whole life was one of toil. He was not -slothful in his apostolic business; and the fervor of his spirit would -have been a good example to the ancient mechanic or merchant. He saw good -men as his colaborers with God. He saw the men that he helped to make good -as a husbandry that he was cultivating for the Lord, as a building that he -was fashioning for Christ's sake. The cure for thieving was work. He that -stole was to steal no more, but was to work with his hands the thing that -was good; and the benevolent motive was to impel to work that the former -thief might have something to give to the needy. It was of the hard toil -of servants that Paul said, "Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same -shall he receive of the Lord." It is the idea of reaction again; God -suffers no faithful worker to lose his reward. The apostolic rule is very -thoroughgoing in dealing with laziness. "If any will not work, neither -shall he eat." This rule may be an offense to the idle rich, but it -appeals to the sense of justice. Perhaps some day society will be skillful -enough to starve its tramps and shirks until they flee to toil as to a -refuge. - -It is peculiar that the end of the Bible should have been misconceived, -even as the beginning, in its teaching concerning work. We have discussed -the heresy that declares that work is a penalty of sin. There is another -heresy which pictures heaven as a place of everlasting idleness. If we -select certain of the descriptions of Revelation, it is easy to see how -the error arose. Yet in each of the weird pictures of the eternal city -there is one sentence at least that hints at heavenly service. For -energetic souls no other conception will be satisfying. Surely inactivity -is not the goal of a redeemed race. Shortly before his death Mark Twain -published in a magazine a satire on the usual idea of heaven. Introduced -in a dream to the city of our hope, he was told by an attending angel to -take his seat on a cloud and to occupy himself by wearing a crown and -holding a harp. Soon becoming weary of this do-nothing life, he came down -to the golden streets. He was asked to keep for a time the crowns and -harps of the passers-by, and he noted that the way was strewn with these -rejected ornaments! Some good people may have been offended by the satire; -and some whose life has been filled with weariness will insist that heaven -must offer rest. So indeed it must. One suggestive passage says concerning -the souls of those that were slain for the testimony of Christ that they -should "rest yet for a little season." Those that have come out of great -tribulation are given service as a reward of their tribulation. "Therefore -are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his -temple." In the later description the land of rest is seen as a land of -work, and "his servants shall serve him." The race does not look back to a -workless Eden; neither does it look forward to a workless heaven. Kipling -puts it well for either here or there: - - We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it, - Lie down for an eon or two, - Till the Master of all good workmen - Shall set us to work anew. - -The ideal of the Bible is service, and that ideal is not rejected when -life comes to its crowning. - -One of the great hymns of the church gives to the worshipers in a -sanctuary the Bible's Gospel of Work: - - Yet these are not the only walls - Wherein thou mayst be sought; - On homeliest work thy blessing falls - In truth and patience wrought. - - Thine is the loom, the forge, the mart, - The wealth of land and sea; - The worlds of science and of art, - Revealed and ruled by thee. - - Then let us prove our heavenly birth - In all we do and know, - And claim the kingdom of the earth - For thee, and not thy foe. - - Work shall be prayer, if all be wrought - As thou wouldst have it done; - And prayer, by thee inspired and taught; - Itself with work be one. - -The biblical ideal for earth sends men forth to their daily tasks, while -the biblical ideal for heaven breaks its reserve sufficiently to show us a -City wherein the saints at rest are likewise the saints at work. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE BIBLE AND WEALTH - - -The word "wealth" as used in this discussion does not mean simply great -riches; it rather means those outer and visible means which have a certain -purchasing power and which gain their value from that fact. The word is -relative at best. A wealthy man of fifty years ago would by many be deemed -a poor man now; while, in the individual estimate, one man's poverty would -be another man's riches. We have all discovered, too, that persons may be -tested by their attitude toward little as well as by their attitude toward -much. The man who breaks down in his use of a thousand dollars is not -likely to recover his conscience in his use of a million dollars. There is -high authority for the belief that he that is faithful in a few things can -be trusted with rulership over many things. This principle will apply to -riches quite as well as to cities. We must necessarily take at large -discount the vigorous attack that is made on great wealth by the man who -is narrow and selfish in his use of moderate wealth. One ray of light -falling into a dark dungeon will test a man's attitude toward light; and -so the real personal attitude toward one coin may become the revelation of -a human heart. - -All of us must live within the realm of material endeavor. Six days of the -week are given by the average man in an effort to win worldly goods. If, -as is generally supposed, Jesus went back from the temple scene in -Jerusalem when he was twelve years of age and worked in the village -carpenter shop until he was thirty, he spent eighteen years in a -remunerative employment ere he entered upon the three years of public -ministry. It is a mechanical conception again; but it is interesting to -observe that the proportion of his years spent in his trade is the same -six sevenths of the time that most men must spend in the effort to gain -the necessaries or luxuries of life. One has only to stand on the streets -of the city in the early morning and see the throngs as they move to their -places of work to appreciate how large a part the wage motive plays in -actual living. Each day many millions of men and women go down to the -various marts in order that in the evening time they may come back from -the struggle with increased gains. If the Bible takes an attitude toward -the spirit that dominates work it must also take an attitude toward the -spirit that dominates the object of work. It would be small use to have -men made right toward toil if they were to be twisted in their relation to -the proceeds of toil. We should expect, then, that the Bible would give -some explicit teaching to individual men concerning the right attitude -toward wealth; and when we turn to the Holy Book this expectation is fully -met. - -Beyond this, the social consequences of wealth are manifold and important. -To see this point clearly exemplified in a wide field, we have but to -study the history of the wars waged by our own nation. At some point every -one of these great struggles has been caused by a false relation to -wealth. Just where we locate that false relation will depend somewhat upon -our prejudices; but the dilemma in each case is such that we are driven to -locate it somewhere. The French and Indian War was a military debate as to -whether the English or the French should gather the furs in the region of -the Upper Ohio and should secure the profits in the world's markets. In -the settlement of that issue many lives were sacrificed. The War for -Independence was caused by taxes--not, as many people suppose, by a tax on -tea alone, but by a long series of taxes covering many years. If the -English had a right to levy the tax and if the tax was just, then the -colonists were greedy. If, on the other hand, the Americans refused to pay -an unjust tax, inspired in their rebellion by a lofty spirit of liberty, -then the English were the greedy party. The War of 1812 was caused by the -seizure of our vessels on the French coast and related to freedom of -commerce. The dilemma is the same as before. Some one was at fault in that -commercial war. A wrong attitude toward property caused the long-drawn-out -struggle. - -Our later wars show the same form of contest. Historians declare that the -war with Mexico was occasioned by the desire to extend slavery territory; -by the nation's lust for the enlargement of her borders; and by certain -debts owed to citizens of the United States by citizens of Mexico. All of -these motives touch somewhere on gold. The Civil War grew from the same -"root of all evil." Northern men aided in bringing African slaves to this -land in order to turn forced labor into money, while Southern men -continued African slavery because it was deemed necessary for the -production of cotton. The cry "Cotton is king" was not always spoken above -a whisper, but as a slogan it caused some fierce struggling. Boston -merchants helped to mob Garrison. The sentiment of England flowed against -the North because it was thought that the abolishing of slavery would -demoralize the markets of the world. The hooting crowds that Beecher faced -in England were unconsciously influenced to their hostile attitude by a -commercial argument. The whole struggle was broadened and heightened until -words like "liberty" and "unity" put a moral passion into the fray. But, -while the nature of the government and the question of human rights were -to be settled, the primary occasion of the contest was commercial. - -Nor was the war with Spain any exception to this rule. If we absolve the -United States from any motive of greed in our claim that the struggle was -purely humanitarian in its character, we must still grant that the heavy -taxes assessed against her Western colonies by the Spanish government led -to the series of revolutions that occasioned our interference. Thus do we -find that somewhere in the heart of each war there was the lurking passion -for gold. When we make up the mournful lists of the many thousands whose -lives have gone out in these contests, we can debit them against the -spirit of greed. Milton in Paradise Lost represents that the rebellion in -heaven was caused by the like lust, and that Satan's eyes were ever bent -in anxious desire toward the very gold of the streets! Milton's -imagination concerning heaven stands for the historical fact about earth. -The demon of greed is usually the demon of war. - -The great problems of current national life all trench upon the same -influence. If money be not the principal in each of them it comes in as an -important confederate. The tariff problem, the currency problem, the canal -tolls problem, the trust problem--all these are quickly classified by -their names. The cleavage between American political parties for the last -fifty years has been made by a wedge of gold. Tariff, or coinage, or -trusts--these have been the large words of political speech. In the -problems that have a more apparent moral bearing the same commercial -element appears. The Labor Problem is with us quite as acutely as it was -with the Romans when long ago the plebeians left the city and camped on -the hillsides, leaving the patricians to do their own manual toil. Whether -the employer gives too little or the employee asks too much in any given -struggle, the demon of greed plays his part again. In the Temperance -Problem the case is even clearer. Distillers and brewers and saloonists do -not enter their trade because they thereby add either to their social -standing or to their moral peace. We cannot eliminate from the problem the -factor of the human appetite that craves a stimulant; at the same time we -know that the motive for the business itself comes from the lure of gold. -That gleam invites many men into a path which, as they themselves know -well, cannot lead to any large political preferment or to any great -personal admirations. - -The problem of social purity is, of course, related to another human -passion. But there has crept into the vocabulary of the people a -suggestive phrase, "commercialized vice." There is the general feeling -that, if the element of monetary profit could be taken from the loathsome -trade, the problem would be much nearer its solution. Hence we have our -Red Light Abatement Laws by which we seek to make it dangerous for men to -rent their property for the traffic in virtue. On the legal side the -present efforts at the solution of the problem all strive to fix a set of -conditions, making commercially unprofitable the house of her whose feet -take hold on death. If, as is earnestly contended by some, low wages tend -to furnish the recruits for the pitiable ranks of the trade in bodies, we -have another commercial factor in the campaign. Explain it as we may, it -is still true that money makes the unholy alliances. It is no marvel that -the Bible has sent down to all the centuries its phrase, "the mammon of -unrighteousness." - -Of course, many will overstate the case of American greed. The Almighty -Dollar is not our God. Our passing celebrities may be mere millionaires, -but our permanent heroes were quite more than traders. If we have seemed -more commercial than other peoples it has been because a new continent -gave such sweeping opportunities for wealth. Some one has said that it is -an evidence of the degeneracy of our period that the word "worth," which -once had a noble and inner significance, is now controlled by the market. -The fact that the word has gone downhill is taken to mean that the people -who use it so have gone downhill too! But these verbal arguments are not -reliable. While the word "worth" has dropped somewhat from its old glory, -the word "talent," which once had merely a monetary significance, has -mounted to a higher meaning. The one word is just as good a witness as the -other. The truth is that we meet to-day the world-old problem. The -evidence of this lies in the fact that the Bible dealt with the problem in -emphatic fashion. It lists for us the victims of greed: Lot, Gehazi, -Ananias and Sapphira, Simon Magus, the young ruler, Judas. We shall find -in its pages some general principles by which it seeks to warn wealth away -from pitfalls and to send it forth to service. - -The first of these principles is that God is the only and absolute Owner. -Our human conceit makes for us another theory, and our legal codes write -out that theory in complicated formulas. We have our "clear titles" and -our "quitclaim deeds." Formal records at a courthouse tell men that we -"own" houses and lands, while formal certificates assert our right to so -many shares of stock or so much value in bonds. The Bible confronts our -complacency with its plea for the ownership of Another. God has the only -clear titles! God has never put his signature to a quitclaim deed! The -courthouse record is a temporary convenience; the higher record gives the -eternal fact. "The silver and the gold" are God's. "The cattle on a -thousand hills" are God's. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness -thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." There is here not merely -the assertion of a property ownership, but an assertion of the ownership -of the very men who think that they own the property! The sea and the land -are the possessions of God. So spiritual a prelude as that to the Gospel -of John claims a divine dominion, while many words could be quoted from -both Testaments which make God the one august Possessor. The history of -all our materials leads us back to God alone. He fashioned the wood in -the forests. He stored the coal and iron in the hills. He packed the -fertility in the soil. When we look for the source of the medium of -exchange we must go back of men to God himself. We pursue the gold coin to -the bank, and then to the mint, and then to the mine, only to hear the -silent proclamation of the gold itself that it is of God. When -congregations sing: - - All things come of thee, O God, - And of thine own have we given thee, - -it is not an instance of poetic license in reverence; it is sober fact -expressed in worship. - -The claim of the Bible for the divine ownership is still more -comprehensive. All property is his; all men are his. There is, too, a bent -of human power which God confers. We are in the habit of speaking of -"gifted" men. The meaning of the word in its usual connection must be that -God gives certain powers to men--to one the power of poetry, to another -the power of moving speech, and to another the power of scientific and -inventive insight. Now there is a suggestive verse in Deuteronomy which -declares that it is the Lord God that "giveth thee power to get this -wealth." The "thee" is collective and refers to the people; but the rule -applies as well to the individual. There is no reason for supposing that -poetic genius or oratorical genius or inventive genius is a gift, while -financial genius is an achievement. Yet there are probably no men who are -more inclined to call themselves "self-made" than are the men who pass -from poverty into vast wealth. Their complacency would be diminished, and -their humility would be increased, if they perceived that all property -belongs to God, that they themselves belong to God, and that their "power -to get this wealth" comes from God. We find, then, that the first sweeping -principle which the Scriptures give concerning wealth is that God is its -inclusive and ceaseless owner. - -The second principle follows as a matter of course. God being the absolute -owner, man is a trustee, a lessee, a borrower. When the man in the New -Testament asked, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine -own?" he may not have reached a worthy definition either of "lawful" or of -"mine own." He may have deemed a loan a final gift, a lease a purchase, a -possession a creation, a stewardship an ownership. It is just this error -that more than any other leads to the abuse of wealth. We treat it as -"personal property," and the "personal" looks selfward rather than -Godward. This was the blunder of the foolish rich man. His ground brought -forth plentifully. His crops could not be crowded into his granaries. He -resolved to tear down his barns and to build greater. He told his soul to -eat, drink, and be merry, for that it had much goods laid up for many -years. Then came the sentence of eviction. In a moment the man discovered -that he was a tenant and not an owner. "Whose shall those things be which -thou hast provided?" This is the question that every man of means must -ask. Wills are never shrewd enough to secure the property for the dead. -Jesus said that the man who acted on the idea that wealth was his own was -a "fool." He missed the primary point of the divine ownership, and he -missed the secondary point of the human trusteeship. All his work was -based on impossibilities; and surely this is the supreme foolishness. - -This lesson is impressed upon men when they return to their former places -of residence after an absence of many years. They recall who "owned" -yonder house, yonder farm, yonder lot, yonder block. The old "owners" are -gone, and the new "owners" have come. Changes of apparent ownership have -been entered in the civil records; but these in their turn will be -changed. The procession of trustees moves down through the millenniums; -above the trusteeships is one changeless Owner. "We brought nothing into -this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out"--this is the -surest of edicts. It is said that one of the wealthiest of men in our -nation called his wife to his bedside just before he passed away and asked -her to sing to him, "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy." The man knew that -in a few moments he would be stripped of every earthly possession. It was -a pungent reply made when one man asked another how much a certain rich -man had left--"All he had!" was the response. Even so. Whenever any person -shall make a stout claim for his ownership of property, it is a wholesome -lesson if he be asked to postpone the discussion for a hundred years! - -The law of giving is compulsory. We may defer surrender, but we cannot -avoid surrender. The hand may grasp for fourscore years, but its final act -will be to "let go" of every earthly object. The loan must be returned. -The trusteeship must be dissolved. The lease must be transferred. The -account must be rendered. Directly all that remains of the gold is the -reflex of gold. We may decide when to give, to what to give, in what -spirit to give; but we may not decide whether we shall give. There is -lasting truth in the much-quoted epitaph: "What I spent I had. What I -saved I left behind. What I gave away I took with me." In this respect the -whole problem of life is the problem of a faithful stewardship. This is -the teaching of what we may call the commercial parables. We are -responsible for the use of our talents and pounds to an authority higher -than our own. The trustees pass away. The Owner abideth forever. - -The third biblical principle declares that this stewardship is attended by -grave temptations. For a hasty reading the New Testament judgment will -seem like a reversal of the Old Testament judgment. The ancient record -often traces a relation between piety and prosperity. Jacob's proposal at -Bethel reads like a bargain struck in the market place. The book of Job -was meant to correct this error and to drive from the world those needless -suspicions that would be directed against the sick and the poor. In the -vigorous debate with his friends the patriarch declines to plead guilty to -the charge that his bodily ills and property losses are the results of his -sins. But although the commercial value of piety may often be found among -Old Testament motives, still there is a constant offset. The period of -plenty is described as accompanied by a "leanness of soul." The deeper -insight of the psalmist saw the end of the man "who made not God his -strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches." Then there stood -before him the perplexing sight of prosperous wickedness, the bad man -spreading himself as the green bay tree and having everything that heart -could wish. Slowly the artificial nexus that had been fashioned between -piety and prosperity and wickedness and misfortune was broken, and men -began to seek for the different types of reward in their own fields. More -stress was laid upon the methods by which wealth was gained, and more upon -its charitable uses. The prophets came to thunder against a false outer -prosperity and to give their advance hints of the wealth of the kingdom of -God. - -In its warnings the New Testament is still more emphatic. The word -"riches" becomes most often a symbol of the higher wealth of spirit. It is -made over into deeper meaning. Besides, the early Christian leaders saw -the enticing dangers of wealth. Visits to Ephesus or Corinth or Rome made -them see how multitudes could be caught in the snare of riches, while -examples among the Jews gave them the same lesson with a personal -emphasis. There were likewise some concrete illustrations of a most -forbidding kind. Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. The -lust of the treasury had betrayed him ere he betrayed his Lord. The first -persecution of the Christian Church was caused by greed. It is written, -"And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they -caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the market place unto the -rulers." Soon the two missionaries are beaten with rods and are taken to -the inner prison. The second persecution of the church was caused by the -same spirit of greed. Demetrius, the silversmith, makes his appeal to his -fellow-craftsmen: "Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. -Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout -all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying -that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that ... this our -craft is in danger to be set at naught." As is the custom of men with the -commercial heart, he lifted the issue to a specious height and made his -plea for Diana of the Ephesians! - -With the memory of Christ's betrayal and of the first two persecutions of -their brethren fresh in their memories, it is no marvel that the New -Testament writers began to stress the perils of greed. The work of Luke as -a physician had doubtless given him an intense sympathy with the poor, and -his Gospel records eagerly our Lord's warnings to the rich. James in his -Epistle fairly bristles with indictments against the rich. He asks: "Do -not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not -they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?" When he wrote -thus did he have visions of Ephesus and Philippi? Later he breaks into -violence, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that -shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are -moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall -be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire." The -later verses indicate that he saw their injustice to the poor laborers and -heard the cries which these poor had sent "into the ears of the Lord of -Sabaoth." Severe as the indictment is, we can see how it was prompted by -memory as well as by scenes of recent greed. Moreover, we have all known -modern cases to which the language would apply. If the Bible is to be -complete, it must give room to such indignant words as these. - -The records would show that Paul included among his friends men and women -of worldly means; still his words of chiding and warning are not withheld. -He writes of a "cloak of covetousness." He had seen men don that cloak--by -their paltry excuses for withholding gifts; by their effort to make an -intent for the future stifle a present cry for help; by a deft transfer of -income to principal which "must not be disturbed"; by the plea that -luxuries were necessities; by a recital of past generosities; by setting -one good cause against another. All these modern cloaks Paul doubtless -found in the wardrobes of long ago. He carries the charge against -covetousness on until he identifies it with heathenism. He writes of the -"covetousness which is idolatry," and in yet another place he speaks of -the "covetous man who is an idolater," as if he wished to make the charge -personal. Idolatry is the worship of something less than God. When, -therefore, any man bows down to idols of silver and gold erected in banks -rather than by temple altars, he joins the ranks of the idolatrous. He may -be even worse than those idolaters who strive to reach beyond their -hideous images if haply they may feel after God and find him. These words -of Paul are urgent warnings that covetousness may destroy personal -genuineness and may defeat spiritual worship. Greed may shut us away from -both man and God. - -But the apostle's strongest word is given in his counsel to Timothy, a -young man whose ideals he would seek to mold. We can imagine the -impression the advice made upon the susceptible youth when he read Paul's -letter in rich and worldly Ephesus. "They that will be rich fall into -temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which -drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root -of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the -faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." It is a modern -account again. The twentieth century has already given thousands of -illustrations of the same apostasy. As for the wide statement that "the -love of money is the root of all evil," we have but to review these pages -to find the commentary. Every item in the catalogue of crimes finds a -partner in greed. Intemperance, lust, war, thieving, murder, betrayal, -persecution, untruthfulness--all these grow from the root of greed. No -heedless joking about the "root" can vacate the language or permit "the -love of money" to declare its innocence. - -In addition to these positive statements sprinkled throughout the Book, -there is a negative testimony that may well be given a hearing. If we were -to search the pages for warnings against poverty we would find that the -search was difficult and that it met with slight returns. The prayer of -Agur in the book of Proverbs is, perhaps, the only assured instance. He -pleads: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is -needful for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? or -lest I be poor, and steal, and use profanely the name of my God." There -is here a recognition of the peril of discontent in poverty, as well as of -the peril of dishonesty, and the peril of a blasphemous indictment against -God. We may take the warning at its full value. Some people of every age -will need its plain speaking. But what shall we say of the biblical idea -of the peril of wealth, when its chapters yield many scores of warnings as -contrasted with this lonely warning about poverty? It would seem -permissible to paraphrase a Bible comparison of persons and to say that -poverty has slain its thousands but wealth its tens of thousands! Even -this comparison falls short, if we measure it by the biblical proportion -of teaching. The silence of the Bible gives us here a significant lesson. - -We now approach the supreme authority in the teaching and example of -Jesus. The elective method here will give a man the result he most wishes. -The boisterous agitator can make choice of passages that will serve his -harsh purpose, while the defender of his own unconsecrated surplus may -quote us passages that give him great comfort. The one will tell us of -Jesus's words to the young ruler; of his command against laying up -treasures on earth; and of a hard-and-fast interpretation of the parable -of Dives and Lazarus. The other will tell us of the praise bestowed on -successful traders; of the inclusion of the wealthy among Christ's friends -and disciples; and of the law of the larger returns for the larger powers -and larger industry so plainly enunciated in the parables of the talents -and the pounds. The fragmentary method leads here to confusion and to the -wildest partisanship. The teaching of Jesus must be taken in its -completeness. - -That teaching must, also, be judged by the attitude of Jesus toward men. -The well-to-do were in his band of disciples. The father of John and James -had servants; and when Jesus died on the Cross John had evidently a -comfortable home to which the mother of Jesus was taken. Nicodemus was -rich. Yet in his conversation with him Christ is not represented as making -a demand that the ruler of the Jews should give up his wealth. The demand -was far more comprehensive. Zaccheus was rich. But in the table -conversation with the publican there is no call to voluntary poverty. -Joseph of Arimathea was rich. Still he appears to have been numbered with -the disciples and to have had the honor of providing the sepulcher for the -body of Christ. All this would make it certain that some of our Lord's -teaching was directed toward an individual danger and so was not meant -for a universal application. The fact that Peter said to Simon Magus, "Thy -money perish with thee," does not warrant us in repeating the same words -to every man who possesses some wealth. The rebuke was evoked by a -personal and peculiar attitude. If the teaching of Jesus, as he dealt with -rich men, varied in a marked degree, it is only reasonable to suppose that -he was fitting his message to the individual subject. The fallacy of the -universal has not yet departed from our treatment of the words of Christ. - -But even when we take the whole of Jesus's teaching rather than any -fraction thereof, and after we have given full consideration to the -personal element in his method, there is still a sobering remainder with -which we must deal. The attempt to make the parable of Dives and Lazarus a -straight contrast between the final fate of a rich man and that of a poor -man cannot succeed. Lazarus was not sent to heaven because he was poor. He -was not given a place in Abraham's bosom on the ground of his poverty of -circumstances, but on the ground of his wealth of character. Any other -conclusion is abhorrent to the moral sense. Should poverty admit to -heaven, some of the most unmitigated rascals are sure to meet the -conditions of entrance. Nor was Dives sent to hell because he was rich. -The contrast in earthly conditions of which Abraham reminds him cannot -fairly be taken to mean that the reward of poverty is heaven and the -penalty of wealth is hell. The meaning is that earthly plenty and earthly -want cannot prevent the rounding out of God's purposes. Condition will -inevitably come to correspond with real character. Should any rich man be -minded to plead with himself that his wealth was, in itself, any evidence -that its owner was entitled to special privileges in the next world -corresponding to his special privileges in this world, this parable would -meet him with its needed corrective. - -The command, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth -and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal," has -been taken by many as a literal command. Usually, however, those who so -take it are ready to substitute a theory which would ask the community to -break the literal demand by laying up treasures for us. We must read to -the end of the passage. Jesus's concern is about the heart. He wishes to -establish the direction of the treasure because he knows that in this way -the direction of the heart will be established. If money is hoarded with a -selfish purpose, the heart goes to selfishness. If money is given for a -holy cause, the heart goes into the cause. On the other hand, if money is -saved in order that the provident parent may give his child a better -fitness for life, the parental heart is invested in the child. If money is -not hoarded at all, but is given for an evil cause, the heart takes that -same evil direction. The emphasis of Jesus is spiritual again. The money -does something with the heart, and the motive of either saving or giving -determines the "heart action." It is the law of action and reaction at -work in another realm. Men say that the way to a man's purse is through -his heart; and men say well. Jesus, while accepting the statement that -there can be no true benevolence that does not come from the heart, still -says that often the way to a man's heart is through his purse. It is one -of those practical rules whose working we have seen many times. We -persuade a man to send his money into a hospital, a college, a library, -and his heart follows his money. The terrible thing that Jesus saw in -selfish hoarding was just that; and the glorious thing that he saw in -generous giving was just that. The good and the evil of earthly treasure -is that it fixes the journeys of the heart; it makes a spiritual -geography. - -There is another word of Jesus about "the deceitfulness of riches." The -phrase piques us into a search for its meaning. There is no evidence that -Christ meant that riches deceived us by flying away. The tricks which they -play upon men are far more subtle than sudden departure. Jesus meant that -riches remained with men and still carried on the deceiving work. We have -all seen enough of life to know some of the deceptions. One friend began -his business career with the idea that he would be content with a hundred -thousand; he is now utterly restless with his million. Another friend gave -to worthy causes a far larger proportion of his meager income in the day -of struggle than he now gives of his plethoric income in the day of -prosperity. Still another friend in the old days was simple and humble in -all his attitudes toward life, while in the new days of wealth he has -become proud in spirit and complex in his living. We have all seen men -whose souls lessened as their riches greatened. All these are -illustrations of Jesus's teaching about "the deceitfulness of riches." The -tragic thing is that the men who are the victims of the deceitfulness are -not aware of the sad inner effects. Men do not know that they are stingy; -they are only prudent and economical! So runs the miserable deceit. It -requires a moment of marked self-revelation to enable these men to -classify themselves with truth. Over the Bank of England men read the -words, "The Earth is the Lord's." This describes the source of wealth. -Over many financial institutions it might be good to put another motto as -a reminder of a possible effect of wealth, "The Deceitfulness of Riches." - -We now face the utterance of Christ with reference to a double mastery -over life. He asserts that "no man can serve two masters," without love -for the one and hatred for the other. When he seeks for the power that is -most likely to contest with God for the allegiance of man he selects -Mammon. Hence he states the dilemma without modification, "Ye cannot serve -God and Mammon." He did not select Pleasure as the opponent of God, nor -Ambition, nor Impurity, nor Dishonesty. He saw clearly that Mammon had the -greatest power to draw men into life-long "service." Other sins might be -occasional contestants, but the sin of greed was the constant foe seeking -to cleave the loyalty of men. Jesus did not say that we could not serve -God with Mammon. Elsewhere he says the very opposite of that. But he did -say unequivocally, "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Perhaps these six -words, more nearly than any other, give us the heart of Jesus's teaching -about wealth. They state in simple and direct form the alternatives for -many lives. We can serve God _with_ Mammon. We can serve God _or_ Mammon. -We cannot serve God _and_ Mammon. What Christ states as an impossibility -many men try to accomplish. We see the vain efforts daily--men putting -their greatest diligence into the market place as an end, with an -occasional tribute to the temple. This is the most frequent form of the -"double life." It is the poor compromise of a half-hearted or -tenth-hearted service. Jesus said that God or Mammon must win the whole -man. The God and the god cannot dwell in the same heart. Jesus here -thrusts us back to the original biblical principle: God is the Absolute -Owner. He will not share his rule. He will not partition his empire. -Mammon must yield to God. Thus Jesus enters all markets and counting rooms -and banks with his demand for undivided hearts and undivided lives. - -There is another saying of Jesus which is more frequently quoted, both -because it is in itself so radical and because it is accompanied by a -vigorous figure of speech. Besides these two attractions, the words have -an appealing setting in a human life. The young ruler comes to Jesus with -his eager question. He stands before the Lord as a fine type of promising -manhood--fresh, alert, clean, and even reverent. He is able to say, -without rebuke, that from his youth up he has kept the commandments and -that his life has moved on a high grade of morals. The record tells us -that "Jesus, looking upon him, loved him." But in this instance, instead -of meeting the young man's question with the demand for a new birth, as -Jesus did with Nicodemus, or with the acceptance of hospitality, as Jesus -did with Zaccheus, Jesus asked that he sell all his goods and give to the -poor, and that then he should follow the Lord in his homeless life. Often -the comment omits this last demand. It may be that it is the more -important demand, and that it is the reason for the minor requirement. -Other disciples had left all in order to follow Jesus; and this man was -now asked to do likewise. Evidently the teaching here has the individual -quality. Christ knew that the young man had set his heart on his riches, -and that the only way to a true discipleship was through utter surrender. - -We cannot read the story without feeling a measure of sympathy for the -young ruler; and we may confess that we ourselves would scarcely have been -equal to the severe test. The situation, however, can be estimated in -another way--not by our imagination, but by our admiration. Certain men in -Christian history have done exactly what Jesus asked this young man to do. -John Wesley did it; making much money, he continued to live on his -allowance of twenty-eight pounds a year and gave the rest to a needy -world. When he was an old man he wrote to the assessor that his taxable -property consisted of two silver spoons at Bristol! Saint Francis of -Assisi gave up all his earthly possessions. At the altar of the church he -deliberately took poverty as his bride. The heroes of complete -renunciation have been many; and the world's verdict has not been that -they were fanatics. They heard the call of God that they should surrender -all and give to the various kinds of poor; they heeded the command, and -they won their fame by their surrender. We can make a more direct test -than this. If this young man had heeded Christ's word, and had given all -that he had to the poor, and had followed the Lord--what would have been -the result? Would he have won the world's admiration by his -self-renunciation? Would he now be known only by the virtually anonymous -title of "a certain ruler"? We can see that he was offered a wonderful -opportunity. He would have been enrolled among the saints of the early -church, if he had risen to the higher choice. An English writer has -pointed out that the young man was not angered by the word of Christ; he -was "saddened." He went away "sorrowful," and his sorrow was for himself. -He went back to his riches and was lost to the sight of the world. He is -now known even anonymously only because he had a brief conversation with -One who had not where to lay his head. - -Jesus saw the young man's retreating figure and then spoke his own -"sorrowful" exclamation, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter -into the kingdom of God!" The account in the Gospel of Mark indicates that -the disciples were "amazed" by the saying, just as the men of the world -have wondered ever since. Seeing this amazement, Jesus added, "Children, -how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of -God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for -a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." It was a startling figure of -speech--an hyperbole, as the later conversation with the disciples would -show, unless, indeed, the saying refers to a certain gate of the city -through which only the unburdened camel could enter. This figure of speech -has held the attention of the world for centuries. Strangely enough, the -nineteenth century had a peculiar illustration of an accommodated meaning -of the word "needle." We cannot help wondering what the people of many -generations hence would think if they were to read in ancient history that -in the latter part of the nineteenth century a certain millionaire paid -more than one hundred thousand dollars for bringing Cleopatra's "needle" -to America. Superficial as the suggestion is, it illustrates the manner in -which a figure of speech could easily be pulled off into a path of false -literalism. - -But if we take the view that the expression was either a vivid hyperbole -or the description of a local gate, the warning still abides in strength. -It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. It is -sometimes very hard for him to remain there when his entrance into the -kingdom preceded his entrance into wealth. Experienced pastors will tell -us that not many wealthy are called. Yet Jesus distinctly declared that -the rich could enter into the Kingdom. The disciples, "astonished out of -measure," said, "Who, then, can be saved?" Jesus replied, "With men it is -impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." It is -not right that the man who clamors against the rich should omit this -assurance from the teaching. Jesus says that a rich man can be brought -into the Kingdom. He offers this as one of the evidences of the divine -omnipotence--that the power of God can break through the complacency, the -self-content, the tangle of materialism, and can win men from the -idolatry of gold to the love and worship of God. - -This message of Jesus to the young ruler, and through him to the world, is -not always welcome to the ears of the rich. The religious teacher may be -tempted to discount its meaning and to relieve in some way the severity of -the words. Yet an age of growing wealth needs this lesson, and needs it -with an increased emphasis. The trend of the Bible serves as a commentary -on the same lesson. If the Bible is to serve as the book of guidance, then -we are justified in saying that the path of material wealth is the path of -spiritual peril. - -If we halted our lesson here, we should be guilty of a partial use of the -Bible. The fourth principle of the great Book is that the stewardship of -wealth offers glorious opportunities. It offers the opportunity of aiding -the poor. John wrote, "Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother -have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth -the love of God in him?" It offers the opportunity of caring for the -unfortunate, as illustrated in the parable of the good Samaritan. When -Jesus uttered this parable, he laid the foundations of many hospitals. It -offers the opportunity of paying personal tributes of affection, as -exemplified in the offering to the Lord of the precious ointment. It -offers the opportunity of furnishing honest employment as a field of -personal fidelity, as taught in the parables of the talents and the -pounds. It offers the opportunity of projecting our influence to the ends -of the world, as taught by those who aided Paul on his missionary journeys -and by those who sent gifts whereby the gospel should be promoted in all -the earth. But the Bible does not give any set of rules for the use of -wealth. It asserts the primacy of God. It commands the spirit of love. It -stresses the probationary character of possessions. It declares in the -word of Christ that any man makes a disastrous bargain who gains the whole -world and in the transaction loses himself. - -Finally Jesus relates our use of money to the eternal issues. He does this -in a very simple and direct way, and in the form of an imperative. In the -more skilled translation of the Revised Version we read, "Make to -yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when it -shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles." It appears -here that worldly possessions may be either "the mammon of -unrighteousness" or the maker of everlasting friendships. By the right use -of gold and silver men can people the gates of heaven with welcomers. "It -shall fail," says Christ, referring to wealth. "They may receive you," he -says, referring to those human lives that are our only permanent -investments. The final emphasis of Jesus in giving the very crown of the -Bible teaching concerning wealth, great or small, is that his followers -shall so use the coin stamped with the image of some earthly Cĉsar as to -produce in men and women and children the image of the heavenly Lord. The -lower commerce is to serve the higher commerce. Faneuil Hall may keep its -market place, but it must be subordinated to that upper room wherein men -learn the lessons of truth and liberty and righteousness. The Age of Gold -can help to make the Golden Age. The problem of wealth will not be solved -until all men hold their riches as willing trustees of Him who himself was -rich and who for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might -be rich. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE BIBLE AND SORROW - - -One who is jealous for the reputation of the Bible as a complete Book of -life must sometimes feel that undue emphasis has been placed upon its -messages for the sorrowing. If the jealousy does not entertain just this -feeling, it has the resembling fear--that the biblical message for sorrow -has been emphasized until it has hidden the message for gladness. As a -necessary prelude to a discussion of the Bible's relation to the sorrow of -the world, we shall treat its meaning for the world's gladness. We are -willing to use the word "pleasure" in this connection, though pleasure is -classed as representing a mood less deep than the mood of joy. Some of us -can recall the surprise we experienced in reading Lubbock's The Pleasures -of Life. One chapter dealt with "The Pleasure of Duty." This title caused -us no wonder. But the next chapter astonished us with the heading, "The -Duty of Pleasure." We quickly found ourselves asking whether there was -such a duty. Is it an obligation laid on men and women to seek for a -proportion of pleasure? Are the light joys of life to be classed with our -duties? Lubbock answered these questions in the affirmative. What reply -does the Bible give? - -Certainly we can say in the beginning that, if we take a review of its -pages, the Bible does not impress us as being a mournful book. This is -significant when we note the fact that its pages were all written by -mature and serious persons. Even more, the pages were written with -reference to some of the most serious and sacred elements and events in -life. Vast solemnities evoked many sections of the Bible. We should expect -that the seriousness of the authors and the critical importance of the -events would touch the Book and would dominate its spirit. It is even so. -Our worthier thought would not have it otherwise. If the Bible had been -simply the inspiration and guide for the world's playgrounds, it would -have lost the most of its soul. - -For a volume whose materials were jokes and whose primary purpose was -laughter might have a legitimate mission, but it would have difficulty in -being rated as redemptive literature. The real humorist is doubtless one -of God's agents in lifting the troubles of mankind; but Providence sees to -it that humorists are not so plentiful as to destroy our sense of -proportion. Each generation is granted a small group of men who set the -world aglee and become the distributors of smiles and laughter. The -appreciation of humor, also, is placed in the nature of each normal -person; but the continual demand for humor becomes a plague. Men know -instinctively that for the greatest things it will not suffice. There is a -story to the effect that one of the most renowned Americans was not -allowed to write the Declaration of Independence because it was feared -that he might work a joke into the historic document. True or false, the -story stands for a fact--that humor is a secondary form of service and -that the big crises insist that humor shall stay in its own realm. - -None the less the Bible is not a stranger to the play element. As we march -through its life we see smiles and hear laughter. Children are there in -their careless gladness. Young men and maidens are there in their innocent -pleasures. Games are there with their delight of striving. Parties are -there with their gayety and music. We pass through pages of darkness only -to emerge into pages of sunshine. We sit down at Marah and find the -brackish and bitter waters and hear the murmuring of the Israelites. But -the next day we come to Elim, with its twelve pure and gushing wells and -its threescore and ten palm trees. This transition is what we would -anticipate in a Book of real life, and it is what fits the Bible to be the -guide of total life. A joyless book could not control a joyful world; -neither could a sorrowless book control a sorrowful world. The Bible must -have a message for both types of experience. - -There is a theological reason for this twofold message. We have been told -by our religious teachers that Christ, being tempted, can succor those -that are tempted. The Man of Sorrows can save the people of sorrows. The -High Priest is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. The Captain of -our salvation was made perfect through suffering. He learned obedience -through the things he suffered. The world is made acquainted with the -sorrowing Saviour of the sorrowing world. Still we have been slow to apply -our theology to the other side of life. The forged letter of Publius -Lentulus stated that Jesus had often been seen to weep, but never to -smile! The mischief of such a misconception is apparent. It provides for a -mutilated theology. It gives the world a fractional Christ. It leaves the -hour of gladness without its Exemplar. It gives comfort for a funeral, but -no companionship for a feast. In the average life the realm of joy is -larger than the realm of sorrow. Few people would declare that with them -sadness had exceeded gladness. The world needs to-day the Saviour of the -joyful, even as it needs the Saviour of the sorrowful. Joy that refuses to -be curbed needs saving power just as does sorrow that refuses to be -comforted. We need not enter into any needless comparison and try to state -which has the more need. It is sufficient to affirm that a complete Bible -must take account of pleasures and joys, if these are to be counted among -the divinely appointed experiences of life. - -We do not long study the Bible without becoming aware of its law of -proportion. It gives the word in season, and it gives the word in measure. -Hence its aim is to cultivate proportion in human lives. Its ideal is the -ideal of a holy God, that is, of One with a perfect balance of the -infinite nature. Its ideal for man must, therefore, be that man shall gain -for himself that balance in the human realm that God has in his divine -realm. For this reason the Bible is a curber of excesses, a restorer of -proportions. It gives here its largest lesson for pleasure. Recognizing -its legitimacy, it recognizes its limits as well. As an example from both -Testaments we may give a statement of conduct that receives rebuke from -Moses and from Paul. It is recorded in Exodus that, after their riotings -with the golden calf, the Israelites proceeded to engage in riotings of -pleasure. The ancient account puts it, "The people sat down to eat and to -drink, and rose up to play." Saint Paul quotes it in First Corinthians in -precisely its original form. In the early account the rebuke of the Lord -awaits the people. In the later account the apostle makes the conduct the -natural accompaniment of idolatry, as if indeed the worship of an image -would issue into the idolatry of the table and the playground. Now eating -and drinking are not only good; they are necessary. Play is not only good; -it is necessary. The Bible declares that food and water are the gifts of -God, and it makes them symbols of God's deeper benevolence. Nor does the -Bible ever condemn play. On the contrary, it represents the streets of the -Holy City as filled with playing children. The trouble, then, must have -been in the lack of proportion as well as in the lack of a good motive. -The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. This is to -say that the two constant movements of life were monopolized by appetite -and sport. The Israelites ate to play, and they played to eat. Two things -intended to be legitimate portions of life became its illegitimate -entirety. Designed to be preludes, eating and drinking and playing became -the whole program. Life consisted in the satisfaction of two ranges of -desire. The demand of Moses and Paul was not that eating and drinking and -playing should be abolished, but that they should be pushed back into -their just proportions as worthy departments of living. The glutton of -food and the glutton of play are both condemned by the Bible. - -There are those who say that one of the crying evils of our own day is -that the people are appetite-mad and pleasure-mad. Probably some men in -every age have brought this charge against their time; and the charge is -true as applied to some persons in each period. For such the Bible has its -repeated warning. They who are lovers of pleasure more than of God fall -under condemnation. Mankind has never long admired the eaters and players -of history. If it remembers Beau Brummel and Beau Nash at all, it enrolls -them in its lists of ridicule. An epitaph which recorded that "He ate much -of the time and played the rest of the time," would not serve to enroll a -man among the earth's heroes! The Bible and humanity are against the -unbalanced devotees of the table and the parlor and the field of sports. - -But the Bible and humanity unite again in their estimate of the other -extreme. The mere ascetic secures curiosity rather than admiration. He -has not learned how to follow Him who often went to feasts and who sat -down with his friends at the supper which they gave him at Bethany. It is -said of him that "he was anointed with the oil of joy above his fellows." -Jesus entered into the normal joys of life. He came eating and drinking, -until his enemies seized upon his conduct and exaggerated it into a charge -against him. He was present at weddings where joy reigned supreme. In all -his teaching and by all his example he never proved himself an enemy to -the normal pleasures of life. This particular emphasis is occasionally -needed. It may not have as large a mission as has the warning against -overdone appetite and play; but it has its message to that smaller circle -of the deceived who would drive joy from the world in the name of Christ. -One of the hymns declares: - - The brightest things below the sky - Yield but a flattering light; - We should suspect some danger nigh - Where we possess delight. - -There is something morbid in this conception. The invitation to the -religious life becomes gruesome. The sister of Pascal cared for him -through a long and serious illness. Pascal came to love her so much that -he feared that his affection was wicked. In a gloomy hour he wrote in his -diary these words, "Lord, forgive me for loving my dear sister so much!" -Afterward his abnormal conscience worked again, and Pascal actually erased -the word "dear." For such moods the Bible has a lesson. God "giveth us -richly all things to enjoy." We would think it small glory for ourselves -if our children should push our gifts away from their little hands with -the idea that those selected gifts were perilous. God fills the world with -possibilities of pleasure. Food and drink are not negative and tasteless. -The paths of earth are not flowerless. Voices are not without music. -Companionship is not lifeless. The Bible is the foe of wicked pleasure. -The Bible is the foe of excessive pleasure. The Bible is the friend of -legitimate and proportionate pleasure. - -But while pleasure needs to be guarded and curbed, it is not either a -burden to be lifted or a pain to be endured. Sorrow is both. Therefore -sorrow demands some positive services from the Bible. We may be impatient -with those doleful folks who speak of this world as a vale of tears or as -a wilderness of woe! We may be inclined to quote the lines: - - I think we are too ready with complaint - In this fair world of God's. - -On the other hand, it is well to remember that the young, especially, see -life almost exclusively from the standpoint of hope and courage. The -minister of the gospel begins to feel, when he reaches the age of forty, -that he has not given enough comfort to his people. As he identifies -himself closely with their lives he finds that most homes carry some -secret sorrow and that most men and women have their own personal -tragedies. You will recall the myth about the boatman whose duty it was to -carry over the Styx the souls who departed from earth. He noticed that -these souls mourned much and took the voyage unwillingly. He thought that -it must be a very beautiful and joyful land that laid such hold on their -hearts. So he secured leave of absence from his post of duty and made an -excursion into the world. He discovered that for every birth there must -eventually be a death; that every home that was made must in due season be -broken; that men and women were troubled and maimed and sick. On all sides -he saw the evidences of sorrow. He went back to his ferry greatly -wondering why people should be sad because they left a sad world. This -mythical picture is overdrawn, but it has its suggestion of truth. Earth -does have its manifold sorrows. If all the burdens and pains and problems -and anguishes of a single day could focus their influence upon any single -life, the result would be either a broken heart or an insane mind. - -The Bible does not make light of sorrows. Its heroes have their troubles. -Call the roll of its sons and daughters and you will find that at some -time each one of them was a child of grief. The Book does not assign -burden and pain and sorrow to the class of unrealities. Neither does it -assign them to the class of negations. In the Bible sorrow is real and -sorrow is positive. When Rachel weeps for her children, the scene is real. -When David goes into the room in the tower over the gate and utters his -pitiful lament over Absalom, the Book does not describe his anguish as an -illusion. Paul's hunger and thirst, and stripes and shipwrecks, and perils -and imprisonments were not the vain froth of a mortal mind. Jesus's cross, -and the thorns and the nails and the spear, and the tauntings of the -passers-by, and the thirst, and the darkened face of the Father were not -swept into the void by reciting a formula about the All. Jesus gave a -promise to his disciples, "In the world ye shall have tribulation." He -kept that promise. They walked the ways of martyrdom. Their spirits won -victories over their flesh. Yet there is no hint that their persecutions -and deaths were the fictions of error or the dreams of a night that did -not exist. The Bible, being real, ministers to sorrow that is real. - -The Book, too, touches on all the phases of comfort that we may gather -from the surface of life, only it does not make them either a full gospel -of consolation or a large part of that gospel. Sometimes a word of -Scripture will suggest the method of comparison implied in the statement, -"It might be worse." Paul does this with one quick word. "Our _light_ -affliction," he puts it. We have lost one hand; we might have lost two! We -have lost one eye; we might have lost both! We have been sick one week; it -might have been a year! Sometimes this method carries us off into rather -graceless comparisons of ourselves with other people as if, indeed, we -were divine favorites. Can a man prove more divine providence for himself -by assuming that there is less for another person? This road of comparison -leads to phariseeism unless we watch carefully against a despicable -by-path. Tennyson in his "In Memoriam," which is a poem of comfort, shows -much impatience with this false form of consolation: - - One writes, "that other friends remain," - That loss is common to the race; - And common is the commonplace, - And vacant chaff well meant for grain. - - That loss is common would not make - My own less bitter, rather more; - Too common! Never morning wore - To evening but some heart did break. - -This method of comparison is inadequate. Whether the word "light" makes -our imagination furnish the details of the worse affliction, or whether it -contrasts our sorrows with the greater sorrows of others, it does not do -enough for our smitten hearts. - -Nor are we fully satisfied with the plea that sorrow is but "for a moment" -and that we can be thankful for its brevity. There is comfort here, to be -sure, but it has no final quality. Paul knew that, and so he gave the idea -an incidental part of a sentence, and then went on to the deeper -consolation. One poet puts it: - - Since the scope - Must widen early, is it well to droop - For a few days consumed in loss and taint? - O pusillanimous heart! be comforted; - And like a cheerful traveler, take the road, - Singing beside the hedge. What if the bread - Be bitter in thine inn, and thou unshod - To meet the flints? At least it may be said, - "Because the way is short, I thank thee, God." - -The truth is that there is real comfort in all this only when pain's -brevity contributes something to the good of the years and even to -eternity. Thus the Bible does not give much space to the slight comforts -of either comparison or brevity. These have their function, but they are -the small helpers of the larger consolations. - -The Bible likewise gives as one of the comforts of sorrow that sorrow -prepares us to console others' sorrows. Saint Paul uses this in his -message to the Corinthians: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord -Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who -comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them -which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are -comforted of God." Here we are pushed back to the deepest sources of -comfort. God comforts the sorrowful in order that other sorrowful ones may -have comfort. The consolers are delegated by the great Consoler. It -requires this reach clear back to the heart of God to rescue this -suggestion from the superficial. One man has sorrow. He consoles others -who have sorrow. Then you have two sorrows in your problem. In this way -you would keep playing off sorrow against sorrow, without any fundamental -explanation of any sorrow. The question is, Why any sorrow at all? If one -of the by-products of sorrow is the power to comfort the sorrowing, we -must still find some main product that will put the two sorrows together -in a meaning of good. The God of comfort must preside over both sorrows -ere either sorrow shall yield its contribution to the sufferer. Paul saw -this, and so he related our power to comfort others to the fact that we -had gotten our comfort from the Father of all consolation. - -It is thus clear that the Scriptures give place to all the minor elements -in the ministry of sorrow. Its comparative lightness, its sure brevity, -and its tuition for sympathy have their part in the Bible curriculum. The -Scriptures also move onward to the vision of a God who cares. "Like as a -father pitieth"--this is the message even of the Old Testament. It gives -an answer to that piercing cry: - - What can it mean? Is it aught to Him - That the nights are long and the sun is dim? - Can he be touched by the griefs I bear - Which sadden the heart and whiten the hair? - Around his throne are eternal calms, - And glad, strong music of happy psalms, - And bliss unruled by any strife! - How can he care for my little life? - -The answer of the Bible is the vision of the pitying God. Our earthly -friends have helped us in our sorrows by simply caring. They have come to -us in the shadows, and their words and faces have told us that they cared. -It is a strange feature of human psychology that just this gives us -comfort. Our friends do not solve the problem for us. They do not remove -the cause of our pain. But they feel with us, and this is aid. Every -sympathizer seems to lift a bit of the weight from our own hearts. When -the Bible gives us the revelation of One who pitieth "like as a father -pitieth," it brings God into that circle of helpfulness. - -The lesson goes farther and deeper than this. Though we have not here used -the words technically, the soul's dictionary draws a distinction between -pity and sympathy. The pitier may never have walked the way that allows -him to understand our grief; the sympathizer comes to us from some -experience that permits him to remember those that are in bonds as bound -with them. We cannot read the Bible long ere we discover that there is in -God the capability of joy and sorrow. The passages are abundant that -justify this statement. God can be pleased. God can be grieved. If men and -women have been made in his image, and if we find in them the capability -of pain and sorrow, we are driven to the conclusion that something -corresponding thereto must be in the divine nature. The father in the -parable of the prodigal son, sitting lonely and mournful in his home, -represents God. The father in that same parable meeting his son in the -roadway and giving him glad welcome, and calling to his neighbors, -"Rejoice with me," likewise represents God. The truth seems to be that the -farther up we go in the grade of being, the more capability of pain and of -pleasure do we find. The polyp can neither suffer much nor enjoy much. The -oyster can enjoy more and suffer more. The bird has its note of joy and -its note of pain. Human beings have exquisite powers of enjoyment and -equally exquisite powers of suffering. We may well believe that when we -reach the perfect being of God both of these capabilities come to their -highest. This is the meaning of that verse: - - Can it be, O Christ Eternal, - That the wisest suffer most? - That the mark of rank in nature - Is capacity for pain? - That the anguish of the singer - Makes the sweetness of the strain? - -We are allowed to believe, then, that the pity of God passes over into -sympathy. We are visited in our sorrows not by a God whose mood toward us -is abstract, but whose own infinite heart knows grief. "The human life of -God" is a phrase that has been used to describe the incarnation. That -phrase enters into our problem here. If Jesus shows us what God is like, -then the Christ who wept over Jerusalem brings us one revelation of the -divine life. The pitying God becomes the sympathizing God. - -The biblical lesson of comfort does not halt even here. It is given a -closer and more personal quality. A pitier and sympathizer may be very -distant, and his aid may reach us over the abysses. If the Bible gives us -the vision of a pitying father, it gives us also the vision of the God who -comforteth even as a mother comforteth. In the various kinds of trouble -men become aware of reserve forces in their nature. They endure what they -thought they could not endure. In crisis times the muscles secure extra -strength, the mind secures extra alertness, and the spirit secures extra -power either to do or to bear. These reserves must be of God's giving, -whether they lie ready in the nature always, or are special gifts sent -direct to help us in the troublous hours. There is, however, a still more -personal interpretation that the Bible offers for these experiences. They -are the special visits of God to the afflicted. If the creed of the divine -sympathy gets its meaning from "the human life of God" as seen in the -incarnation of Christ, this part of the creed gets its meaning from the -doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It is true that the Greek word which is -translated "Comforter" might be given other meanings such as Adviser or -Helper. But this does not change the point for the present discussion. An -Adviser in sorrow is a Comforter, and a Helper in sorrow is a Comforter. -It is significant that the consciousness of the church followed the -translators eagerly and adopted the word Comforter as if it met some need -of life and as if it answered to some deep experience of life. We may not -go into a labored discussion of the doctrine of the Trinity. We may affirm -that a humanity that sorrows is glad for a doctrine of the Godhead that -magnifies the office of consolation. The comforting quality in Barnabas -led the early disciples to change his name from Joses to Barnabas because -he was a "son of consolation." They rejoiced in their human comforter. The -church has ever found satisfaction in the revelation of a divine -Comforter. In this revelation it sees the pitying God and the sympathizing -God become the Comforting God. - -Related to this is the scriptural idea that God conquers our sorrow not by -removing it but by making us equal to its burden. The clearest concrete -illustration of this is seen in Paul's words about his "thorn in the -flesh." His thrice-repeated prayer was that the thorn might be removed; -his answer was that, while the difficulty would not be taken away, he -would be given grace sufficient for his trial. Paul's experience has -impressed men as being typical of the inner kind of divine aid. The sorrow -may be of many kinds; but the powers of resistance are strengthened by the -grace of God and the sorrows are borne in a brave and patient spirit. -Although the idea be trite, it claims a place in the discussion, as indeed -it was worthy of a place in the ritual of comfort. We are not dealing with -any mere law of reaction. It was not the thorn that was making Paul -strong; it was God who was making Paul strong to endure the thorn. He -himself describes the transaction as if it had involved a direct gift of -the divine grace, as it had involved a direct message from the divine -heart. - -Yet great as are all these types of biblical consolation, we all feel that -we have not reached the conclusion of the matter. Comparison is not -enough. Brevity does not explain why sorrow should be just brief. Pity -does not tell us why we should need to be pitied. Direct spiritual -reserves do not fully justify the hard experience that calls for them. -Direct and personal comfort does not solve the problem since no one would -seek trouble in order to have the visits of a comforting friend. The -gaining of inner strength comes nearer to a positive warrant for the -sorrows of life; yet it does not quite reach the satisfying conception. -All these things are parts of the program, but they are not its -conclusion. The tale of life's sorrow is not all told by their recital. -The full story we cannot understand now; still we may be able to glimpse -its meaning. In the epic of Job there are traces of the revelation. The -patriarch gathers a harvest out of his troubles. They never reach the -uttermost extreme. They do not last forever. They bring him pity, however -crude; sympathy, however bungling; comforters, however mistaken; reserve -forces, however tardy; inner strength, however won. But his sorrows do -more than this; they are represented in the last chapter as having been -made the servant of Job. The richer and stronger man returns to the richer -and stronger life. The testings have been turned into gains. - -This deeper lesson of comfort is often given to us in the Bible by means -of a very positive verb. Our afflictions "work" for us. All things "work" -together for us. As men are sent to the fields, and as the forces of -nature are sent along the wires, so sorrows are sent to become our -servants. This service is not inevitable; it is conditioned on the -attitude of the sorrowing life; but it is a very real service when the -conditions are met. Our afflictions work for us--when we get the -spiritual vision so that we can receive the things that are eternal. All -things work together for good for us--when we fulfill the innermost -requirement of loving God. The condition in both cases is located within -the spiritual life. This condition being met, the promise of the Bible is -that sorrow is made our efficient servant. Paul in his famous verse of -consolation states the case with marked confidence. The afflictions work -for us until they produce "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of -glory." Language could scarcely be stronger. Nor were the words used by -one who lolled in the high places of ease and delight and shouted down his -abstract comforts to the strugglers in the vale. The assurance to the -sorrowing comes from their comrade. His experiences ranged all the way -from the petty hardships of a wandering life on to the Appian Way and the -block of death. It was the sure faith of the apostle that all his sorrows -had been made to work for him. He was not their victim; he was their -master and their beneficiary. - -The persons who have seen much of the world's better living will not deny -this conception. Le Gallienne in his booklet, If I Were God, admits that -suffering does often work toward the making of character and becomes a -real servant. His skepticism does not lie at this point. His inquiry is -whether a just and good God could not have found some easier way, some -servant for which we would not have to render such a painful cost. This, -of course, is that old method of debate that flees for refuge to some -imaginary world and conceives of people who do not exist. Our task is with -the people now on earth, and with them we must deal in our efforts at -consolation. Some of them we have seen driven to bitterness of spirit by -their sorrow. They themselves made sorrow an evil servant which filled the -garden of life with noxious weeds, shut the windows of hope in the home of -life, put the poison of despair into the water of life, and spread the -clouds of gloom over all the sky of life. Others we have seen mellowed and -sweetened by the servantship of sorrow. All our visits to them showed -clearly that sorrow was doing gracious service. The "weight of glory" was -more and more apparent. The "good" produced by the "all things" gave -increasing evidence that the "servant" was doing his work. When any close -observer of life writes down his lists of saints he will always find that -he has been compelled to canonize many who, like their Master, have been -made "perfect through suffering." - -The quotation of these words about Christ reminds us that the world turns -to him as to the last resort for the sorrowing. Here, as in all other -studies, we find the climax in him. As he entered into all forms of work, -so did he enter into all forms of sorrow. Is it homelessness? Is it -privation? Is it misunderstanding? Is it anxiety for others? Is it -anticipated suffering? Is it evil accusation? Is it ridicule? Is it shame? -Is it mockery? Is it torture? Is it utter disgrace? Is it abandonment? Is -it denial? Is it betrayal? Is it death? All these he knew. If the wisest -and holiest suffer most, he knew all these sorrows at their deepest. None -could really join with him in chanting the real De Profundis. He trod the -winepress alone, and of the people there was none with him. The world that -left him alone in his sorrow does not wish him to leave it alone in its -sorrow. It seeks him then. It hears him as he promises, not immunity from -suffering, but the experience of overcoming in suffering: "Be of good -cheer: I have overcome the world." He put a deeply personal quality into -his assurance, "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." "I -am with you always, even unto the end of the ĉons." So runs the promise. -It is no wonder that the troubled flee to him. The Man of Sorrows draws -the men of sorrows. His benediction of peace is not formal. With the -authority and with the reserves of comfort at his command, he still says, -"Let not your heart be troubled." - -To the usual messages of consolation he now adds the eternal reason, "In -my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told -you. I go to prepare a place for you." Well did Carlyle say that if Jesus -were only man, he had no right to utter these words. But Jesus said much -more. He would prepare the place. He would come again. He would receive -them into his company. If some doubter shall ask about the way, his reply -shall be the same as of old, "I am the way." Through him alone we come to -the Father. Full trust in him removes all bitter tears: and the remainder -of tears he does not rebuke. He inspires the visions wherein we see those -who have come up out of great tribulation hungering no more, nor thirsting -any more, nor smitten by the sun or any heat; but fed by the Lamb and led -by him amid fountains of living waters, while God wipes away all tears -from their eyes. - -This doctrine of heaven as a consolation for sorrow is not born of -selfishness, as is often charged. The rankest of infidels said, "In the -night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle -of a wing." Not "listening selfishness," but "listening love"! The love -that we bear to our own and to all mankind seeks this vision and finds it -waiting in the divine plan. Is it selfish to desire that for ourselves -which will injure none others? Is it selfish to long for that which will -meet the longings of the whole world? Verily some critics discover strange -dictionaries when they define words in reference to the holy faith. But -all the while the afflicted seek the face of Christ. Troubles look unto -him and are lightened. The poor man cries and the Lord still delivers him -out of his troubles. Our Bibles and our Hymnals personalize the haven for -us. He is the Rock of Ages. His bosom is the Refuge. To him we go when -shadows darkly gather. A present help is he. The last low whispers of our -dead are burdened with his name. The suffering world states its comfort in -terms of Christ himself. - -For the final sorrow of death he offers the full consolation. The tragedy -of separation remains. Our indictment against death is that of Tennyson: - - He puts our lives so far apart, - We cannot hear each other speak. - -The more worthy of immortality our beloved seems to be, the keener is the -pang of parting. Lowell felt it so "After the Burial": - - Immortal! I feel it and know it, - Who doubts it of such as she? - But that is the pang's very secret-- - Immortal away from me. - -The Bible has no rebuke for the sorrow of separation. But it does have the -healing hope of eternal reunion. Jesus said: "I am the resurrection, and -the life: he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: -and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." These words, -fully believed, still our fear, confirm our hope, and comfort our final -sorrow. - -To all the burdened, Jesus says, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." -To all the joyless he says, "I will see you again, and your heart shall -rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." To all the lonely and -mourning he comes with the message, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye -believe in God, believe also in me." The world may have difficulty in -securing that belief; but the world knows well that this belief alone is -the defeat of sorrow. In their best and most desperate and most hopeful -hours men flee to the Bible as to the only tent in which their anguish can -be soothed. Within that tabernacle walks the form of the Fourth. When -they turn from him, they must return with the question, "Lord, to whom -shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." The eternal life that -he gives is the only consolation for our passing sorrows. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE BIBLE AND PRACTICE - - -When men separate the Bible from devotion and practice they are guilty of -the final heresy in relation to the Book of Life. The previous pages have -shown that the Bible has a real message for actual living. While the -larger departments have been treated, it is still true that the message of -the Scriptures for other sections of life is vital and fundamental. -Whatever we may say about the message of the Bible in regard to chemistry, -or biology, or geology; whatever we may say about its inspiration for the -literature of the world; and whatever we may say about its accuracy in -matters of ancient history and geography--the Book holds a lonely primacy -as the Book of Duty. The scientist may not get from it a full revelation; -the littérateur may be tempted to omit certain portions from his "choice -selections"; the historian may not find in it a full or chronological list -of events; but the man with a moral and spiritual passion, the man bent on -finding his duty that he may do it faithfully, will discover ample -material in its pages. Indeed, he will have a sense of surplus. The ideals -of the Book will be so far beyond his performance as to give him the -feeling of a gentle rebuke. As a Book of moral science, moral literature, -moral history, the Bible has no competitors. As a revelation of the heart -of God, of the heart of man, and of the way in which the heart of God and -the heart of man are brought into loving harmony, the Bible is supreme. - -The great difficulty in the use of the Bible has come from wrenching it -from this main purpose. Confusion is sure to arise whenever any volume is -employed apart from its primary intent. If one wishes to learn -mathematics, and his foolish teacher shall give him a book of music, the -result is not edifying. The pages of the book may be properly numbered, -and the scales of music may be denoted by the correct fractions; but -mathematics represents a thoroughly subordinate purpose, and the volume -does not lead easily on to Calculus. The result is even more confusing if -the arithmetic be handed to a pupil who wishes to study versification. The -multiplication table may look like verses when seen at some distance; -still the arithmetic's main intent is not the teaching of poetry. The -illustrations of possible confusion could be taken from all fields. The -common sense of the race saves it from the blunder of misapplying the -most of its books. The Bible, however, has been subjected to -misapplication because the theory of its infallibility has often been made -to cover a wide, not to say a universal, range. The student who goes to -the Bible with a purpose that is mainly historical, or scientific, or -geographical, or genealogical, or mathematical, or even poetical and -literary, may not find all his wishes gratified. But the student who seeks -its pages under a profound sense of God and with an equally profound will -to do God's will is certain to find material for all his moral and -spiritual ambitions. - -Consequently when the religious attitude toward the Bible is changed into -a professional or critical or debating attitude, the Book is deflected -from its intent. Doubtless we must have in the realm of scholarship some -men who give themselves to a technical discussion of the Bible. These men -may be charged with the duty of recovering portions of the Book to -reality; and they may have an important, but secondary, relation to its -primary purpose. Nevertheless their attitude is not the final one. It -would be useless to deny that the last generation has witnessed a changed -attitude toward the Holy Scriptures. One result has been that two camps -have been formed, and that doughty champions of a view have sallied forth -from each camp to do warfare. The missiles have been verbal. Sometimes -they have been abusive. Each champion has believed himself a David and his -opponent a Goliath. The unprejudiced observer of the conflict has had -difficulty in deciding which champion has been most guilty of a wrong -spirit. The conservative has called the progressive various names, -infidel, atheist, destroyer, betrayer, a successor of Judas in spirit and -of Celsus in method! The progressive has responded in kind and has named -the conservative a reactionary, an intellectual coward, a defender of a -discredited theory, a foe of liberty, and a traitor to the truth. The -conservative has often become a spiritual Pharisee and has ruled the -progressive out of court on the ground that the progressive lacked piety, -while the progressive has often become an intellectual Pharisee and has -ruled the conservative out of court on the ground that the conservative -lacked scholarship. There have, of course, been conspicuous instances of -breadth and catholicity on both sides, but occasionally the spirit of the -contest has not tended to exalt the mood of the contestants or to glorify -the divine Book. - -The results of such a spirit could easily be predicted: they cannot make -for edification. If we list on one side the radical conservatives and on -the other side the radical progressives, we shall discover an evangelical -helplessness in both lists. In each case a conception of the Bible -supplants the purpose of the Bible. The champion defends a doctrine more -than he promotes a life. The apologist overcomes the preacher. The -theorist destroys the evangelist. All this is not a denial that the -speculative emphasis has its place. The defender of the faith will always -have his place. Usually he must work in the background, in some point of -scholarly retreat. The pastor and preacher who goes into a community with -the idea that his main mission is to promote a special view of inspiration -is doomed to failure, while he who goes into a community with the idea -that his main mission is to preach the salvation of the Bible as it -climaxes in Christ cannot fail utterly. There are conservatives and -progressives whose ministry is pitiably weak, and there are progressives -and conservatives whose ministry is grandly strong. The difference comes -from the point of emphasis. If a man is more anxious to prove that Moses -was the sole author of the Pentateuch than he is to prove that Jesus is -the sole author of salvation, his ministry will answer to his own -emphasis. If a man is more anxious to prove that there were two Isaiahs -than he is to show that there is one only name given among men whereby we -may be saved, his ministry will be no more important than is his -contention. The primary purpose of the Bible is not the revelation of the -single authorship of one of its sections or the dual authorship of one of -its books; its primary purpose is to declare that One is our Master, even -Christ. - -It must be plain that, as the divine revelation of the Bible culminates in -a Life, so the human intent of the Bible can culminate only in lives. The -purpose of the Bible is met in Practice. If we adopt the military figure -of life, the Bible is a weapon given to men for moral warfare. Sometimes -in its own pages the Word of God is presented under the figure of a Sword. -The writers could not have had in mind the Scriptures as we have them now; -but the principle applies to every revelation by which God seeks to bring -men to the understanding and doing of his own will. When Isaiah felt -divine messages burning in his heart he said, "He hath made my mouth like -a sharp sword." The writer of Hebrews took the same nervous metaphor and -wrote, "The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any -two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, -and of the joints and marrow." Paul in his description of the Christian -armor speaks of "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." It -may not be amiss, then, to take this highly authorized figure of speech -and to employ it once again--not claiming, of course, that our particular -applications were in the thought of the first users. The point is that -under the ancient military system the sword had its main intent, and that -it never did its real work as long as it was divorced from that intent. -There were wrong uses of the sword, and there were secondary uses of the -sword; and there was but one primary use of the sword. - -We can conceive of an actual sword as being used in different ways by -different people. A robber seizes it, defends himself against just arrest, -and slashes the representatives of a righteous law. Evidently the sword -was not made for that purpose. The sportsman takes the sword, tests its -handle, polishes its blade, tries its resiliency, purchases a manual of -arms, secures the best teacher, drills himself in its use. On holidays he -wears a flashy uniform, marches through the streets, waves the glittering -thing over his head, and so makes it an instrument of personal flourish. -This use is not evil, but it does not stand for the weapon's first intent. -A third man, with a more serious mien, secures the sword. He is enlisted -in the militia, and the time may come when it will be necessary for him to -go into real war. He tests its handle and polishes its blade; he studies -the manual of arms; he seeks the best masters; he practices its use -through many months. When the time of war actually comes this man draws -the sword from its scabbard and goes out to do service in his country's -cause. The primary purpose of the sword is met only in this earnest use. - -The three men may represent three classes in their attitudes toward the -Bible. The Bible is often used for defense in immoralities. It is often -used as a means of that cheap skill that comes near to personal display. -It is often used for spiritual defense and warfare. The robber's use is -evil. The parader's use is secondary. The warrior's use is primary. - -Many illustrations of the immoral use of the Bible could be given. In the -story of the temptation of Jesus the devil is pictured as a user of the -Scriptures, and he has not been without his followers in an unholy use of -a holy record. The Bible covers a wide range of thought and experience. It -tells of all manner of sins. It deals with all classes of characters. It -presents the lives of bad men who were sometimes good, and of good men who -were occasionally bad, and of other men who were quite steadily bad or -good. Thus the Bible gives us all sorts of examples. The record, -distorted and misapplied, may be made to justify the baldest of sins. In -matters of questionable morality men are ever ready to appeal to the -divine Book, and even for actions condemned by all enlightened moral -judgment the Bible is sometimes summoned as an advocate. There is scarcely -a sin which has not had a passage of Scripture presented as its excuse. -Men have justified rash murder on the ground that Moses killed the cruel -Egyptian taskmaster. As was shown in a previous chapter the practices of -the patriarchs have been quoted, even in the halls of Congress, as a -warrant for bigamy and polygamy. Men in the midst of unreasoning anger -have condoned their madness by reciting the words, "Be ye angry, and sin -not." Jesus himself named to the Jews a sacrilegious misuse of a Bible -phrase by which heartless children excused themselves from filial duties. -Illustrations might be given touching almost every phase of personal life. -Even as in old days the wicked sometimes fled to a city of refuge, so now -do men caught in an evil mood hide themselves behind a biblical rampart. - -In larger social matters this use of the Bible has been fully as striking. -Human slavery felt secure within a scriptural fortress. Wilberforce and -Clarkson in England, and Garrison and Phillips in America were compelled -to reply to biblical arguments. Charles Sumner, at a meeting in -Massachusetts, spent an entire evening in replying to a pro-slavery -discussion based on Paul's letter to Philemon, arriving duly at the -conviction that the only logical and religious result of the apostle's -words to Philemon would be the freeing of slaves in the name of Christian -brotherhood. So pieces of Mosaic legislation and scraps of Pauline -regulation were used to conceal the Golden Rule and the law of fraternity. -It is easy to observe here, too, that as men advance in ethical life this -use of the Bible ceases. Doubtless in twenty years no one has heard the -Bible quoted in behalf of slavery. Yet the biblical argument would serve -quite as well for reinstating slavery as it did for continuing slavery. -The argument dies not only because the moral consciousness of man lives, -but also because the moral judgment of man perceives that the general -principles of the Bible are utterly opposed to human slavery. The man who -proposed to bring the bondage of men back into the social life of the -world by means of the biblical argument would be deemed as much an -anachronism as his method of debate. - -This same evil use of the Bible proceeds to-day among the opponents of the -temperance reform. Our debate with the saloonist or brewer or wine maker -never goes far ere we are told of biblical examples of drinking, as well -as that Christ turned water into wine in his first miracle at Cana of -Galilee. Saloon keepers have framed and have placed upon the walls of -their alluring palaces Paul's advice to Timothy, "Take a little wine for -thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities." They do not quote the -verdict that wine is a mocker, with a bite like that of a serpent and a -sting like that of an adder--the cause of woes and sorrows and redness of -eyes; nor the pronouncement that no drunkard can inherit the Kingdom; nor -the condemnation laid upon him that putteth the bottle to his neighbor's -lips. Nor do they put forward the inevitable drift of Paul's law of -charity which commands men to do naught that will make their brothers to -offend. Nor yet do they heed the sure drift of the Bible's teaching as it -comes to its crown in Christ himself. The man who would claim that Jesus -would approve the modern traffic in intoxicating liquors would convict -himself of amazing perversity and ignorance. There are increasing -evidences that the Master of life is now finding an effective use for his -whip of cords and that there is beginning a retreat greater than that of -the ancient thieves and dove sellers. The time will come when men will -marvel that an attempt was ever made to use the Bible as a foundation for -the trade in alcoholics. - -In Scott's Ivanhoe there is given an example of this misuse of the Bible, -as well as an example of its effective rebuke. Rebecca the Jewess is -beautiful in person, as she is in character. Brian de Bois-Guilbert is a -member of the Order of the Holy Temple. He is a dashing, handsome, -hypocritical crusader, both a military and a moral adventurer. He turns -his lewd eye toward Rebecca. She stands by an open window, ready to throw -herself to death upon the rocks far beneath rather than to submit herself -to his wickedness. To justify his black intention Guilbert mentions the -conduct of David and Solomon, and then says to the tempted one, "The -protectors of Solomon's Temple may claim license by the example of -Solomon." The beautiful woman makes a worthy retort, one that deserves -frequent repetition: "If thou readest the Scriptures and the lives of the -saints only to justify thine own license and profligacy, thy crime is like -that of him who extracts poison from the most helpful herbs." No honest -person can believe in Guilbert's use of the Bible; nor can any honest -person escape the truth of Rebecca's reply. The murderer's, the -bigamist's, the slaveholder's, the rum-seller's, the sensualist's method -of employing the Bible is the final blasphemy against the Holy Word. The -robbers of life simply steal the sword of the Spirit in order that they -may use it in the service of hell. Wolves in sheep's clothing and devils -clad in the livery of heaven are apt figures of speech for the description -of this perversity. The Bible itself speaks of those who wrest the -Scriptures to their own destruction! - -The second use of the sword moves into the realm of the legitimate, but -not into the realm of the final. Expert swordsmanship is no crime, even as -it is not the highest morality. The Bible has long been one of the -favorite fields of the critical scholar. Very often the search has been -for technical truth rather than for vital truth. Heated discussions have -related to questions of dates and authorship. These questions are not to -be ruled out as useless. Sometimes technical truth gives the vital truth -of the Bible a setting that makes it more forceful and persuasive. It was -inevitable that both the higher critics and their opponents would -sometimes go to great extremes--the critics to an idolatry of intellect, -their opponents to an idolatry of literalness. We must all have been -impressed that at times when the spiritual battle has been intense the -warriors have stepped aside from the main conflict in order that they -might discuss how and when and by whom the Sword and its parts were -fashioned! - -We may change the figure of speech for a moment and modify for the present -purpose a borrowed illustration. A man finds a casket buried deeply in his -yard. The vessel appears to have been constructed a long time ago. It -bears upon its sides characters that are difficult of translation. There -is even doubt as to the nature of the metal. The man summons the other -members of the family. They open the vessel and discover that it is filled -with gold. At once a warm dispute begins over several questions. Who made -the casket? When was it made? How many persons took part in its fashioning -and its filling? From what precise mintage did the coins come? What is the -meaning of the peculiar hieroglyphics found upon its sides? Are all the -coins of equal value? Whose images are stamped upon them? The debaters -become excited over these mooted matters. At last one sensible member of -the family suggests that it is apparent that by right of finding this -particular household owns the casket; that the needs of the members are -many; that the gold, even though the coinage be ancient, can be turned to -modern use; that the questions which they are debating can be settled only -by metallurgists and historians and philologists, if they are to be -settled at all; and that, pending the settlement of incidental issues, the -wants of the family may be richly met by appropriating the contents of the -casket! The illustration scarcely needs any interpretation. It surely does -represent the attitude which the devout and obedient heart may take in -this period toward the Holy Book. The ancient casket that we call the -Bible is full of treasures. This much lies beyond doubt or debate. While -the learned philologists and historians and exegetes surround the casket -and try to ascertain the dates of its parts, the names of its authors, the -meaning of its obscurities, the family of God may continue to draw on its -exhaustless treasures. Nor are there wanting signs that more and more our -age is adjusting itself to this reverent and practical use of the Word of -God, and that Professor Dobschütz rightly contends in his new volume that -the Bible is again becoming the Book of Devotion. - -There is likewise what we might well call the "lowest" criticism--the -spirit that uses the Bible as a volume of puzzles rather than as a volume -of directions. Many a man has spent more time in speculating about where -Cain got his wife than he has in trying to find out how to make his own -wife happy. Many a man has spent more time in trying to find out about -the Witch of Endor as an excuse for his consulting some vulgar -fortune-teller of modern time than he has spent in trying to learn the -will and secure the guidance of the good and wise God. Many a man has -spent more time in discussing Melchizedek, who had neither ancestors nor -descendants, than he has spent in trying to learn from the Bible how he -himself may honor his forbears and may train his own children in -righteousness. Many a man has been so piqued by curiosity about the exact -nature of Saint Paul's "thorn in the flesh" as to forget the teaching that -the grace of God can make us equal to any burden and torment of life. The -men of this type will not allow the Bible the use of hyperbole. When it -suits their contentious mood they become strict literalists. Even though -they themselves may declare that it is "raining pitchforks" or that the -waves are dashing "mountain high," they will insist that Christ's words -about the two coats and the two cloaks and the two miles are not the -strong urging of much forbearance and generosity, but the counsel of -literal folly. Meanwhile the certainties and duties of the Bible outnumber -its riddles and its curiosities many-fold. The importunate call to holy -practice ceases not. From each of a thousand passages of the Good Book -there issues a patient rebuke for the curiosity monger, "What is that to -thee? Follow thou me." - -This leads us to the third use of the sword as seen in our illustration. -The gallant soldier took the weapon and used it in harmony with its -intent. So the Bible should be employed preeminently as a means of -spiritual defense and warfare. The Scriptures are profitable, not for -immoral justification, not for mere criticism however exact and searching, -not for the solving of superficial riddles, but "for doctrine, for -reproof, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be -perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." To go to the Bible -with the motive revealed in these great words is to recover the Bible to -its divine purpose as the book of human practice. Such a motive lifts the -volume above any mere literary or historical aspects. There is, for -example, the oft-quoted story about Benjamin Franklin's experience at the -Court of France. He was passing an evening with a company of cultured -ladies and gentlemen. The conversation turned to the subject of Oriental -life. Franklin read aloud to the company the book of Ruth. Struck by the -beautiful simplicity and spirit of the narrative, his hearers expressed -their delight and desired to know in what book the charming pastoral could -be found! It is safe to say that these men and women needed the lesson of -fidelity in the book of Ruth far more than they needed the sense of its -literary merit. - -We must always return to the idea that the key to the Bible is the deeply -religious instinct and motive. Nothing else will really open its pages. -Nor does the Bible herein wholly differ from other literature. There are -men and women so thoroughly cultivated on the so-called practical side of -their natures that it would be punishment for them to read Whittier, or -Longfellow, or Lowell, or Tennyson for a full hour. The demands of -business or social life have killed the poetic impulse. So many persons -may crush from their natures the religious instinct and then wonder why -the Bible does not appeal to them! The truth seems to be that a person -gets from the Bible about what he seeks. It takes divinely opened eyes to -see the wondrous things in the law. The psalmist, therefore, prayed that -the change might come over himself rather than over the parchment. The way -to illumine the sacred page was to illumine him. The Book may lie in a -great light, but what can the Book do for a man with closed eyes? Seneca -tells of an idiot child in his home who, becoming blind, insisted always -that the room was dark! Herein is another parable. - -It is only this disposition of the seeing eye and the obedient hand that -can bring the Bible to us in its main purpose. Having this disposition we -shall not suffer ourselves to be lured into interesting byways. We shall -have a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Our spiritual purpose -will defeat all needless criticism and all needless dissection. Having -this purpose, we will turn to the early chapters of Genesis. Instead of -debating whether in a literal garden Adam and Eve were tempted by a -literal serpent to the eating of literal fruit, and were driven through a -literal gate, while a literal angel with a literal flame running along a -literal blade guarded against reentrance, we shall be moved by the thought -that we have lifted ourselves in puny rebellion against God, and that we -have gone forth from our place of innocence, and that the third chapter of -Genesis recounts the essential history of our souls. Having this religious -purpose, we shall read the story of Job with a view to securing its -spiritual lesson. We shall not permit any critical arguer to confine us to -the question of the historicity of Job himself. We shall rather lay hold -of the teaching of that marvelous book, with its colossal debate, and we -shall see that, whether the book be a history or a parable or an allegory, -it drives crushing suspicion from the world by teaching that suffering is -not always the result of sin, and brings cheerful trust into the world by -teaching that afflictions bravely endured must have their reward. The man -who back in that dim and far age got hold of the teaching of the book of -Job must have somehow caught the inspiration of God himself. The common -ground in all these mooted portions of Scripture is really a large and -wealthy place; but only a common spiritual purpose will ever bring -conservatives and progressives together in the knowledge and peace of God. - -One almost hesitates to discuss the book of Jonah in this connection -because petty debates have robbed it of much of its deeper meaning. The -nature of the book doubtless lies beyond earthly settlement. Whether we -declare that Jonah's journey was as historical as those of Saint Paul, or -that it was as parabolic as the journey of the prodigal son, we can find -no sure end of the debate. But all the while the teaching of the book -waits for our obedience. The individual lesson seems to be that whenever a -man turns his ship from the Nineveh of duty toward the Tarshish of -pleasure he will directly come to rough and perilous seas. In other words, -the man who flees from his God-assigned work sooner or later gets into -trouble. The missionary lesson is just as plain. Back yonder in a time of -racial narrowness, some one caught the inspiration from God and declared -that the Lord of all the earth cared for all the people of the earth. The -infinite love traveled beyond all our little boundaries. The personal -lesson and the missionary lesson of the book of Jonah are sufficient to -keep individuals and churches busy for a thousand years to come. The -spirit with which we approach the book of Jonah will decide whether we -shall become petty debaters, or men and women with dutiful purpose and -missionary zeal. - -The conclusion is that when we seek the Bible with the motive of holy -practice we never meet with disappointment. The religious purpose saves -the Book for us and saves us by the Book. This purpose will likewise bring -us face to face with the Hero of the Divine Word. Other sacred literatures -may offer us high moral precepts, and they may occasionally give us -glimpses of spiritual ideals. But one Book alone gives us Christ. One Book -alone reveals the Redeemer. The climax of practice to which the Scriptures -call us is the following of Christ. In all our studies in these chapters -we have found that the supreme lessons centered in his teaching and in his -example. The Man, the Home, the School, the Workshop, the Market Place, -the Playground, and the Hospital all wait upon him for their guidance and -their warning. But Jesus is more than the way and the truth; he is the -Life. He is more than the Exemplar of Practice; he is the Helper in -Practice. He walks the pages of the Bible even as he walked the ancient -paths, and his disciples may still say, "Behold the Lamb of God, which -taketh away the sin of the world." Other sacred books may offer -revelations of morality; the Bible offers the revelation of a Saviour. The -Bible is not its own goal. Jesus is the end of its revelation. The devout -in all ages have been ready to use the heart of the verse of a familiar -hymn: - - Beyond the sacred page, - I seek thee, Lord; - My spirit pants for thee, - Thou living Word. - -If men seek the Exemplar who will give them a goal for their practice, -they find such an Exemplar in the Christ of the Bible. If they seek the -Inspirer who will give them a longing for the perfect practice, they will -find that Inspirer in the Christ of the Bible. If men seek the Saviour who -will help them on to the perfect practice, they will find that Helper in -the Christ of the Bible. - -Indeed, it may be said to be characteristic of the Bible that it not only -offers the perfect program, but that it offers the perfect help. This was -true even of the Old Testament. Jehovah was the strength of life. His -power was as immediate as his presence. He was a present help in time of -trouble. He was a present Guide in time of perplexity. The Christian -revelation seems to bring that consciousness of divine help nearer to men, -and to make it more real. Hence the Christian faith goes over all the -world seeking to win men to God and his righteousness. Everywhere it -proclaims a redeeming God. An ideal without a Saviour may become a -despair--a tormenting impossibility, the lure of the final falsehood. The -Bible gives the ideal and then it adds, "It is God which worketh in you -both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The Bible warns against -temptation, and then it tells of One who was himself tempted in all points -like as we are, yet without sin, of One who is able to succor them that -are tempted. The religion of the dead code becomes the religion of the -living Person. The Ideal becomes Example, and both Ideal and Example are -found in a Saviour. - -With all this in our purpose, as well as in our creed, we come to the -Bible in full harmony with its primary intent. We find now that for every -moral and spiritual emergency the Book has its message. If it were -necessary we could list these emergencies and show the word that the -Bible has for each of them. Here is an illustration that serves as well as -a thousand for making the main point. The Gideons have been placing the -Bibles in the hotels of America. Travelers seldom go to their rooms -without seeing upon the table a copy of the Book. The organization that -has done this good work often receives accounts, anonymous or otherwise, -of the help given by the Bibles that its work has supplied. Here is a -letter received from a young woman: - - Perhaps a word will help you to realize that the little "Good Book" on - the table in a lonely hotel room helps some. Last night, after - fighting the fight that any young woman with any appearance fights, I - found myself in Chicago at this hotel. I had papers, magazines, books, - and other reading matter, but for a joke--yes, joke--I picked up the - Bible. It fell open at the seventieth psalm. Can you imagine the - impression it made on me? I read it again and again. Needless to say, - it helped and I feel better, happier, and not so much alone. - -Picture the full circumstances, and we may feel that the help went deeper -and wrought more than this letter indicates. If this young woman was at -the beginning of that dreadful path of death that invites careless -travelers, how much must these ancient words, so graciously modern, have -meant to her? "Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O -Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them -be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be -turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, Aha. Let all those -that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy -salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy; -make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make -no tarrying." Any study of the authorship or date of this seventieth -psalm, or any theorizing as to the identity of "The chief musician," or -even any discussion of the particular circumstances under which the words -were originally written would not have solved the life problem of a young -woman coaxed on toward carelessness. The psalm was penned to make God -real, and his help real. Doubtless it performed that office long ago; and -surely it performs that office now whenever a needy heart supplicates the -good God by means of the ancient prayer. "Thy word have I hid in my heart, -that I might not sin against thee"--this was the psalmist's statement as -to the reason for carrying portions of the ancient revelation with him on -all his journeys. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By -taking heed thereto according to thy word"--this was the use of God's -Word prescribed for all time. The writer of the one hundred and nineteenth -psalm did not have our Bible, but when he wrote these two verses he had -within him the purpose of our Bible. He brought the ancient law within its -primary intent, and he gave the principle by which all later Scripture -should be employed. The Bible is to be placed in the heart as a defense -against sin. The Bible is intended to cleanse the ways of life. The Bible -is given to lead us to Him who is himself the Perfect Life and who offers -the Divine Grace. - -All this means that the best apologetic for the Bible is the earnest and -honest use of the Bible. We may well use the apostle's fine phrase and say -that those persons who follow the ideals of the Bible under the -inspiration of the Saviour of the Bible are "living epistles known and -read of all men." They are the modern evidences for the ancient Book, the -human and divine proofs of the human and divine Book. The Bible does not -fail the soul that searches its pages for the paths of truth and -righteousness. The prayer of the ritual is that we may "read, mark, learn, -and inwardly digest, that by patience and comfort of thy Holy Word we may -embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life." In -everything that bears on making men worthy subjects of everlasting life -the Bible is the sure guide. All sincere souls that come to its chapters -with this primary and spiritual intent will find their due reward. They -may stand before the open Book confident that the voice of God will speak -through the written Word and determined that they themselves shall ever be -in the attitude of eager listeners, saying, "Speak, Lord; for thy servants -hear." - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bible and Life, by Edwin Holt Hughes - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLE AND LIFE *** - -***** This file should be named 41520-8.txt or 41520-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/5/2/41520/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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