THE BIBLE AND OTHER ANCIENT LITERATURE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BY L. T. TOWNSEND D.D. \\ PROFESSOR IN BOSTON UNIVERSITY, AUTHOR OF " CREDO ' "THB ART OF SPEECH" ETC. NEW YORK CHAUTAUQUA PRESS C. L. S. C. DEPARTMENT 1880. The required books of the C. L. S. C. are recommended by a Council of Six. It must, however, be understood that recom- mendation does not involve an approval by the Council, or by any member of it, of every principle or doctrine contained in the book recommended. Copyright, 1884, by L. T. TOWNSEND. PREFACE. UNDER the title, "The Bible and Sci- ence," the substance of this little volume was put into shape, at the request of Dr. J. H. Vincent, and delivered in 1874 at the initial meeting of what is now the famous Chautauqua. Under the title, " The Bible in the Light of Modern Science," it was preached before the society of the First Parish Church of Dover, N.H. ; and by that society was published in 1883. Under its present title, essentially the same subject-matter was delivered in a iii iv Preface. course of lectures before the " Free Baptist Association," at Ocean Park, 1884, and requested for publication. This request, together with a second one from Dr. Vincent, is our justification for adding this treatise to the very large amount of existing Biblical literature. If the reader takes as much pleasure in perusing these pages as the author has taken in preparing them, the latter will feel amply compensated for the service ren- dered. CONTENTS. TAGTE The pivotal question 1 Re-examination of Bible authority 2 General proposition 3 The Bible responsible for its scientific errors . 4 The Bible and the exact language of science . 9 The Bible and scientific classification .... 14 A hint that the Author of nature is the Author of the Bible 17 Supposed antagonism between science and the Bible 19 An illustration of the supposed antagonism . 20 Actual conflicts between science and the Bible; and science in error 22 Illustrated by the statements of eminent men . 23 An important rule 26 Caution needed 27 A fuller classification of Bible contents ... 28 The same rule governs Bible interpretation as governs the interpretation of other literature . 30 The connection is decisive 30 v vi Contents. PAGE Absolute truth 31 The Bible and other ancient literature brought together 31 The art of healing, and the Bible 32 From 1184 B.C. to 500 B.C 32 From 500 B.C. to 320 B.C 33 Medical practice in recent times 34 The Bible, if divine, must not be in error . . 36 The Bible found not to be in error 36 Certain approved physiological revelations . . 37 Testimony of eminent physicians 41 Matters closely related to medical science . . 45 An important question 51 The human mind and the Bible 51 Opinions of the ancients as to the mind ... 52 What guarded the Bible-writers against false opinions? 54 Not their supposed non-philosophical character, 54 Correctness of Bible statements in the light of modern thought 56 The moral argument derived from Bible influ- ence 57 Mental methods in the Bible 59 Examples of inductive reasoning 60 Dependence of the mgdern method upon the Bible method 63 How shall the correctness of Bible psychology be explained ? 65 The Bible in its relation to government and civilization . . 66 Contents. vii PAGE The Bible, if inspired, a court of ultimate ap- peal 67 The Bible and law 67 The Bible revered by eminent lawyers ... 69 Obligation of Roman law to the Bible .... 70 The constitutional law of England, and the Bible 71 The Bible and political science 72 The Bible indorsed by eminent statesmen . . 73 Secret of England's greatness 74 " The Holy Alliance " 75 Declaration of Independence 76 Republican government 77 Benefits of Bible faith and practice 77 The Bible and the United States 80 Opinions of Daniel Webster, William H. Sew- ard, and Professor Bowen 81 The Bible and civilization 86 Learning and literature 86 Architecture 90 Quotation from Ruskin 93 The Bible and the history of civilization . . 95 Commonwealth of Israel 95 Ancient civilizations 95 Greece and Rome 96 Heathen lands 97 Mediaeval times 98 Modern Europe 99 Another important question 101 The Bible and natural history 103 viii Contents. PAGE Botany 103 Zoology 105 Meteorology 107 Opinion of Lieut. Maur"y Ill The Bible and geology 113 Teachings of the ancients as to the origin of things 114 Sir William Thomson gives expression to mod- ern opinion 117 Opinions of eminent men as to the geology of the Bible 120 The Bible and astronomy 130 A test question . 132 Ancient astrology 134 In Egypt 136 In Babylon 137 In Chaldaea 137 In Persia 138 In Arabia 138 In Europe 138 The Bible writers were familiar with these views, but never adopted them 140 Ancient astronomy 143 The earth: its shape, foundation, and composi- tion 143 The moon: its composition, size, and distance . 146 The sun: its character and size 148 The stars 149 Comets 150 The Milky Way 151 Contents. ix PAGE Number and distances of the stars 151 Why did not Bible-writers make similar state- ments ? 153 Other important revelationsMn the Bible . . . 157 The Bible ; its morals and religion 163 Comparisons between Bible teachings and those of other ancient literature 163 Unfavorable criticisms 167 The rigorous measures enjoined in the Bible against the Cauaanites 171 Imprecations in the Psalms 175 David's command to execute Joab 177 The Bible the text-book on moral science . . 178 Objections to the purity of Bible morality . . 181 Results of an abandonment of Bible morality, as in England and France 183 Bible morality indorsed even by men in some respects sceptics 186 Still another important question 189 The Bible and theology 190 Science confirms Bible Theology, but adds nothing essentially new 192 The Bible and religious truth 195 Bible religion originated practical philanthropy, 196 Bible religion adapted to all peoples .... 199 Why did not some of the philosophers of the ancient world invent a universal religion ? . 200 Concluding words 202 THE BIBLE JSTI^ETEENTH CENTUKY. WAS the Bible written and compiled by men providentially selected, directed, and illuminated by the Holy The p|TOtml Spirit or did it come into ue8tiOB - its present shape somewhat by chance, having been written as other books are written, and compiled by irresponsible persons whose words and work may be accepted or rejected at the pleasure of every reader is essentially the twofold question which at the present time is much discussed and variously answered. 1 The Bible and iht It looks somewhat as if a re-exam- ination of the entire subject of Bible Ki-pxamina- authority will be demanded, tion of Bible authority. and quite generally and vig- orously entered upon, in the near future. If this is to be the case, we need not object : besides, our objection will be useless. But in this re-ex- amination and re-statement, one thing should be strenuously insisted upon : that the work done shall not be super- ficial, but thorough. The generally received views as to the origin and history of the Bible, its genuineness and authenticity, its credibility and in- spiration, must not be decided against except for cause. The new investiga- tions must be patient and untiring. New views should not be adopted be- Nineteenth Century. cause a few men say they ought to be ; but, rather, the views adopted must be at least more reasonable than those re- jected. It is not a question of opinion, but of evidence, with the burden of proof resting upon the attacking party. We may add, that our personal inclina- tions in this impending controversy are conservative; and this pamphlet is de- signed as a contribution not merely in the interest of conservative orthodoxy, but equally in the interest of what we believe to be God's truth and man's welfare. It is scarcely possible, within the lim- its of the brief discussion intended, to canvass all the important e enera i questions involved in the P r P 8ition - general subject. We therefore ask at- The Bible and the tention to a single proposition : THE BIBLE, THOUGH NOT PROFESSING TO TEACH SCIENCE, IS, WHEN CORRECTLY INTERPRETED, IN HARMONY WITH ALL ESTABLISHED FACTS OF SCIENCE, AND IN THIS RESPECT DIFFERS WIDELY FROM OTHER ANCIENT LITERATURE. One or two preliminary thoughts claim a passing notice. The reader is The Bible is aware that the Bible, even rT,r, b J some of its professed tine errors, friends, is said to be not a treatise upon science, and not, there- fore, to be held responsible for scientific errors. But can such a position be safely taken? If the Bible is a book of God, as is claimed, may it not be questioned rigidly questioned re- specting every thing upon which it ven- Nineteenth Century. tures to speak? Is the Bible a book that asks at our hands a cowardly de- fence, or any thing like special pleading? When, therefore, the man of partial be- lief in revelation says, " The Bible was not intended to teach science, therefore we can excuse its scientific inaccura- cies," we reply, "No; for if the Bible is filled with false teachings as to the facts of matter, or the facts of mind, then it no longer bears the impress of a book inspired of God, but bears the marks of human origin, and belongs among books which shortly may become obsolete and forgotten." If allowed at one point, there would be scarcely any limit in this process of excuse-making. For some one else, with just as great propriety, might say, 6 The Bible and the "The Bible is not intended to teach any of the departments of human philoso- phy, therefore we may excuse its errors in philosophy." Another might say, "The Bible is not intended to teach history, therefore its historic mis-state- ments, of whatever character, may be allowed." Mr. Murray, in one of his Music-hall Sermons, employs this lan- guage : " The Bible is a book that should be read like other books, in a broad and comprehensive way. . . . The length of the creation period, the tonnage of the ark, Samson's strength, the guerrilla skirmishes of the Judges, the ram's-horn signals in front of the walls of Jericho, these are questions about which no sensible Christian cares a fig." Now, though the confession exposes Nineteenth Century. us to the charge of narrowness and dog- matism, still we do not see how any devout and thoughtful Christian can help caring much, very much, whether or not these records of the Bible which purport to narrate facts are true or false. Their truthfulness or their fals- ity makes, and ought to make, all the difference imaginable concerning our faith in the book. " A man," Dr. Crosby puts the case, "might be imagined as making a mistake in his views of the uni- verse, and yet be true to his morals and philosophy ; but God, never. If God err anywhere, he is no God." That is, the eyes of the Infinite Being must have trav- ersed the universe through and through, and have seen beyond the range of the mightiest telescope, while the micro- 8 The Bible and the scope can reveal nothing that has not first felt the finishing touch of his crea- tive fingers. If, therefore, there are scientific errors in the teachings of the Bible, it follows that the book is not in a special sense God's book, and, there- fore, its claims upon us are not supreme. Is not this position liberal enough ? But we repeat, the interests at stake are of such magnitude that our final judgments must not be hasty ; and before they are rendered, these matters called the facts of science must be well established, and there must be correctness in scriptural interpretation. Another thought to be borne in mind is this: While, according to the views we seek to maintain, the Bible nowhere teaches what is scientifically false, nev- Nineteenth Century. ertheless it must be admitted that the Bible does not employ in its teachings the exact language of sci- ence. Errors in science, and the non-use of scientific die- science - tion, are things entirely different. If, therefore, the non-use of professional words and style is a fault, then of course the Bible is open to criticism. But are its diction and style upon these grounds objectionable? In these respects, does not the Bible speak as all scientific as well as all sensible people often speak ? Visiting the large observatories in this or any other country, would you expect to hear from the lips of astrono- mers any thing but " sunrise " or " sun- set" in references to these phenomena? When the great Herschel left orders for 10 The Bible and the his servant to call him to observe the passage of some star, he did not say, " Sir, when, in the revolution of the earth upon its axis, the illuminated ray shall be brought upon the eajth's sur- face at the longitude and latitude of the observatory at Greenwich, then call me ; " nor did he employ any other scientific terminology: but he was ac- customed, like a sensible man, to say, " John, call me at sunrise," or " at sun- set," or " at midnight." Scientific men the world over have been speaking for a year or more of the unaccountable redness preceding the sunrise, and of the blazing sunsets which have been reported from every part of the world. But, strictly speaking, such language is not scientific or correct: Nineteenth Century. 11 the sun does not rise and set. Why, therefore, should not these men be con- demned for their inaccuracies of expres- sion ? If the sceptic insists upon scien- tific expressions, then there must be in- troduced a scientific nomenclature into our ordinary conversation. The good housewife must speak of the " chloride of sodium " instead of salt ; of H 2 O in- stead of water ; and of C 12 H 20 O 10 instead of starch. " Will, you have a second piece of roast beef?" was the question asked of a young lady who had just returned from a boarding-school. " No, thanks," she replied : " gastronomical sa- tiety admonishes me that I have arrived at a state of deglutition consistent with dietetic integrity." Common speech would say, " Thank you, I have eaten 12 The Bible and the enough." Is not that as well ? " My perpendicularity suddenly became a hor- izontality," has recently been substi- tuted for " I suddenly fell." The reply, therefore, to those who claim, that, be- cause the Bible speaks of sunrise and sunset, it thereby teaches, for instance, that the earth is stationary, is this : It no more teaches it than did Sir John Herschel when he spoke of sunrise and sunset. Indeed, a man must be very hard pressed for something to say against the Bible, when he allows him- self to use such unreasonable objections. A further reply to those who object to the use of unscientific terminology in the Bible is this: The Bible was written for the "care-crossed, toil- stained," suffering millions of the hu- Nineteenth Century. 13 man race, those who have no time to master the terms of the schools, and for such people Bible language is per- fectly adapted: it is 'sweet, precious, inspiring. But notice this singular additional fact: Some of the most distinguished scientists and philosophers of England, France, and Germany, at present more than ever before, are seeking to put their thoughts into expressions which may be easily comprehended by the American farmer, and mechanic. They are beginning to see that it is not best to lock up scientific truths in profes- sional nomenclature. But, in adopting this new method, they are employing, you notice, the language of literature, of poetry, of emotion, and of common 14 TJte Bible and the life ; which are precisely the Bible style and method. Again : while insisting that the Bible nowhere teaches what is scientifically The Bible false, still it is not claimed .ndscien- that th BiW a d O pts any tide class!- J action, thing like scientific classifi- cation of the facts revealed. There is apparently no attempt at such classifi- cation. Indeed, upon a cursory exam- ination, there seem to be in Bible statements much confusion and many contradictions. But it should be borne in mind, that nature too, at first sight, seems very unorderly and self-contradictory. Take, for illustration, the facts of geology. The data which nature gives are, upon a superficial view, often confusing Nineteenth Century. 15 Men have seen rocks; they have used fragments of them for walls, fortifica- tions, house-building, have twirled them from slings, and made from them arrow- heads; they have, too, known some of the uses of loam, clay-banks, and gravel^ beds. But they did not discover a classification of them. It has been only after years of patient investigation by such men as Professors Forbes, Lyell, and Hitchcock, and by noted French and German scientists, aided by many curious scientific appliances, that we are introduced to the wonderful order and arrangements of geological his- tory. We can now trace with almost unquestioned accuracy the different stages of the earth's development. In- deed, the geology of the stars is also, 16 The Bible and the at present, a matter of study and of contemplation. The same thought, too, may be ap- plied to the facts of Providence. The June morning brimful of gladness, and the dark December night when ships go down at sea ; nature, as she stands with one hand full of that which gives vigor and health, with the other full of that which paralyzes and agonizes be- yond description, are facts that cannot be harmonized at short notice. The eye must be skilled, and the heart rev- erent, iu order to discover, in such a system of things, harmony and unity. Thus, also, when our knowledge of the Bible is limited, and the methods of our interpretation are imperfect, con- tradictions may be found. One chapter Nineteenth Century. 17 and verse may be in conflict with an- other, and much may be found that is in conflict with the various departments of natural science. But when biblical scholars explore and ponder, when science and the Holy Spirit give their aid, then an internal harmony is dis- covered; and the remarkable agreement between the different parts of the Scrip- tures, as between the truths therein revealed and those of nature, often dawns upon the mind in delightful and silent majesty. And may J A hint that we not well ask how these the Author of nature is the things could be otherwise, Author of the if, as orthodoxy claims, the Bible is one book, and if the Author of nature is also the Author of the Bible? 18 The Bible and the It is a well-known psychological fact, that every author puts his personal characteristics into each of his publica- tions. Titian paints like no other artist. Beethoven composes like no other mu- sician. Charles Lamb writes like no other author. Whatever is done by any person carries with it this "indi- vidual aroma." And it is likewise a divine individual aroma, found in na- ture and the Bible, that bespeaks for them a common authorship. Indeed, were the scientific facts of the Bible nicely classified, as in the works of Sir Charles Lyell or Professor Agassiz, we should have to confess that in that fact there is a stronger reason than any yet presented, for supposing that the Bible is of human origin. And, besides, were Nineteenth Century. 19 there a studied arrangement and scho- lastic classification in the Bible, we should sadly miss that naturalness which makes it the charming book it is. It would be no longer as a Colorado park, but as a cabinet of scientific specimens. At this point some one asks if there are not certain positive an- Supposed tagonisms between the Bible antagonism j j-f between and science, not mere dir- science and f A- 4.- A 4. i the Bible. ierences in diction and style, but differences in matters of fact. Men at various times, beginning as early as the days of Celsus, have so as- serted. But those objectors may have been in too great haste, over-pugna- cious, or not well informed. Their at- tacks may have been urged against 20 The Bible and the some supposed teaching of the Bible, and not against any thing it really teaches. As a matter of fact, the at- tacks of sceptics more than once have been urged against incorrect statements of theologians and inaccuracies of trans- lators, while the real utterances of the Bible have remained unassailed. A single instance will be sufficient to illustrate this point. At the time our English Bible was translated, perhaps out of deference An iiiustra- to the prevailing opinion of . ^ times the Hebrew word tagonism. rdkioh was translated into Greek by the word stereoma, and into Latin by the word firmamentum, whose derivative "firmament" was employed by our English translators. Objectors, Nineteenth Century. 21 finding this word in our English trans- lation, have more than once said that Moses meant by " firmament " a " solid expanse," or a "firm vault." A scep- tical American writer upon " Myths " accordingly puts these words into the mouth of Moses : " And said the Gods, Let there be a hammered metallic plate in the midst of the waters." And in- stantly young and pretentious sceptics laughed at the scientific inaccuracies of the Bible. Now, what are the facts in the case? Moses could have used He- brew words and expressions which pri- marily and invariably mean something solid and firm, as, for instance, such words as yathad and taraz ; but he did not. The word rakiah, which was used, primarily means to spread out, like the 22 The Bible and the Latin ezpansus, answering to our Eng- lish word " expanse," and is thus trans- lated by nearly all our best Hebrew scholars. Here, therefore, as in many other instances, is a sceptical objection, raised, not against what the Bible teaches, but against what it cannot, by any fair means, be made to teach. But, again: From very early times to the present, men have declared that the Actual con- teachings of the Bible not flirts between , j i L . i science and lts Supposed, but its actual the Bible; teachings and the teachings and science in error. o f science are in conflict. And we are willing to admit that Bible-writers and scientific men more than once have not been in agreement. But this admission does not carry with it the confession that the Bible is neces- Nineteenth Century. 23 sarily wrong. For, if science is wrong, and the Bible right, there would be a conflict all the same as if the reverse were true. Does any one suppose that science has always been free from error, or always in agreement with itself? " It is now thirty-five years," says Sharon Turner, " since my attention was turned to these consid- IIlustrated erations. It was then the bjr the state- mentsof emi- fashion of science, and of a nentmen. large part of the educated and inquisi- tive world, to rush into a disbelief of all written revelation ; and several geologi- cal speculations were directed against the Bible. But I have lived to see the most hostile of these destroyed." At the date here referred to, there were conflicts between the teachings of sci- 8 24 The Bible and the ence and those of the Bible ; that is, between the errors of science and the truths of the Bible. The Bible can hardly be condemned for not harmo- nizing with error, though the error is in strictest scientific garb, and sup- ported by able scientific authorities. Says the late Professor Lyell, a man justly regarded as one of the most noted geologists of the world, "In the year 1806, the French Institute enumerated no less than eighty geological theories which were hostile to the Scriptures; but not one of those theories is held to-day." That those French "sceptics in the year 1806 saw discrepancies be- tween Bible-teachings and their own opinions, need not surprise us, their opinions having been wholly exploded. Nineteenth Century. 25 It may also be said of some of the scientific opinions of our own day, that they are not established. Says Pro- fessor Tyndall, "The views of Lucre- tius and Bruno, of Darwin and Spencer, may be wrong. I concede this possi- bility, deeming it, indeed, certain that their views will undergo modification." We must not, therefore, decide matters hastily. We must be sure at least of two things, before pronouncing against the correctness of biblical statement ; namely, correctness of interpretation, \ and the firm establishment of scientific^ fact. Had this rule governed sceptical thought and expression during the last half-century, much that has been said against the Bible would not have been spoken. 26 The Bible and the The next and last preliminary thought to which we ask attention An impor- properly belongs to the field tnt rme. o interpretation, and may be expressed by this rule : One should , carefully distinguish what the Scrip- I ture saith, from what is said in they Scriptures. For instance, the friends of Job, in their conversations with the much-afflicted man, uttered many false sentiments. Those sentiments are re- corded in the Bible. But the Bible not does thereby vouch for their cor- rectness : it only vouches for the fact that they were spoken by those friends, and, for wise reasons, were compiled in the inspired volume. Thus, too, the ancient maxims of infidelity, " It is vain to serve God " (Mai. iii. 14) ; " Let us Nineteenth Century. 27 eat and drink ; for to-morrow we die " (1 Cor. xv. 32), are found in the Bible, but are none the less false and perni- cious. They are not what the Scrip- ture saith, but are what is said in the Scriptures. Upon this same ground, caution is needed lest we read into the records of ; the Bible what does not prop- CsntfOB erly belong there. For in- needed - stance, the words of David, " I have been young, and now am eld ; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread," are often read as if they were a promise that the seed of the righteous shall never be obliged to beg bread. But these words, upon a moment's thought, will be found to promise nothing : they simply state what 23 The Bible and the David had not chanced to see, and what doubtless harmonizes with the ordinary observation of humanity; still, as a matter of fact, other men have seen good people, and the children of good people, left to beg for their bread. This thought will bear still closer inspection. There are found recorded A fuller in the Bible, false sentiments expressed by devils (Gen. iii. 4^ 5^ . a j go b y w i c k e d men (2 Kings xviii. 17-37 ; Mark xiv. 58) ; and even by good men (the friends of Job furnished many illustrations, and others can be found in the Book of Ecclesiastes). There are, also, found recorded in the Bible, true sentiments expressed by good men (John vi. 68 ; Acts v. 34-39) ; Nineteenth Century. 29 by wicked and worldly men (Mark ii. 7 ; John vii. 46) ; and even by Satan and demons (Luke iv. 33, 34). Now, it must be clear upon a moment's thought, that though these sentiments were inserted in the Bible by inspired men, they are not necessarily the senti- ments of inspired men; indeed, they are in some instances diametrically opposed to the sentiments of inspired men. They are a part of the inspired volume ; but the reader is left, in all such cases, to judge of their truthful- ness or falseness upon the same grounds as are employed in testing words and statements found in any other litera- ture. There will be found, for illustration, in the writings of Professors Huxley 30 The Bible and the and Tyndall, and, indeed, in all his- tories of science and philosophy, the The same recorded opinions of distin- rnle governs -11 1,1 \ Bible inter- guished men ; but those opin- pretation as {Q ^ ^ ^ youched f or governs the interpreta- ^y those scientists who have tion of other literature. merely reported them. That they are thus recorded, is not their voucher ; that is, these modern writers are not held responsible for those re- Thecon- corded and false opinions, nection is decisive. unless the connection war- rants it, or unless there is explicit in- dorsement of them. Thus also with many of the records of the Bible. But, on the other hand, when we read the recorded words of the different per- sonations of the Deity, those of the Father (Luke iii. 22), those of the Nineteenth Century. 31 Son (Matt, v.-vii.), and those of the Holy Spirit (Acts xxi. 11); or when we investigate the recorded Abgolnte words of inspired persons in truth * their inspired moments (Acts ii. 4), then, if the Bible is what evangeli- cal Christians claim that it is, we are dealing with absolute truth. The heavens and the earth, according to the Bible and the Church, may pass away ; but these divine words shall not pass away. Having in these introductory remarks sufficiently guarded the discussion, we are now prepared to bring 3 The Bible and together the teachings of the other ancient literature Bible, and those of other brought ancient literature, under the light of modern science and philosophy, 32 The Bible and the in order to test their correctness and their comparative merits. The field to be explored is a broad one, and our explorations must of ne- cessity be rapidly made ; but the haste, we trust, will not prevent the utmost fairness. As we are all familiar with the sick- Theartof room, medical science may healing, and . ' the Bible. be allowed to lead in iur- nishing facts and illustrations for our subject. We have some account of medical science during the so-called mystical From period, extending from the 1184 B.C. to 500 B.C. Trojan War, 1184 B.C., to the dissolution of the Pythagorean SOT Nineteenth Century. 33 ciety, 500 B.C. This period, too, wit- nessed the writing of quite a large portion of the Old Testament; not in- cluding, however, the books of Moses, which were of earlier date. There is not time in this brief treatise to enu- merate the vagaries and errors in physi- ology and medicine, found extending through those ages ; the opinions held are freely confessed by modern medical authorities to be for the greater part false, crude, and senseless. The subsequent period, extending from 500 B.C. to 320 B.C., known as the philosophic era in medi- From 500 B.C. cine, has an array of brilliant to 320 B.C. names. Indeed, nearly all the scientists and literary men of that period had more or less to say as to physiology, anatomy^ 34 The Bible and the and the treatment of diseases. Such names as Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Pla- to, and Aristotle are familiar. Some of their opinions are found to be correct, but for the larger part they are as un- scientific as those of the preceding primi- tive and mystic periods. In a word, there \ has been a well-nigh entire revolution of those early opinions, in the light of recent medical science. But more than this: even within the memory of persons now living, medi- cal practice has undergone practice in recent times, radical changes. Fifty years ago, and even later, the physician (we speak extravagantly) was required first to bleed his patient to death ; and, if he could not succeed in this, then seem- ingly he would try to drug him to death. Nineteenth Century. 35 But now the lancet is rarely employed, while milk, iced water, gentle nursing, and harmless diversions take the place of much of the contents of the drug- shop. The modern theories are, that nature must restore the sick man ; that medical practice is meanwhile to busy itself with removing such obstacles as are in nature's way, or, at most, is to render some aid to nature in her work of restoration ; and that the future, or at least the highest, mission of the med- ical profession, will be to prevent sick- , ness by guarding against its causes. Turning our attention to the Bible, we take the position, that, though it was not designed to teach the science of medicine, still, whenever by hint, explicit statement, or commandment 36 The Bible and the there is found in it any thing relating to medicine, disease, or sanitary regula- The Bible, tions, there must be no error; if divine, that j provided the Bible muni not be in error. j n an exceptional sense is God's book. Now, what are the facts in this case ? They are these : Though the Bible often speaks of disease and remedy, yet the illusions, deceptions, and gross errors of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, as formerly taught, no- where appear upon its pages. This, it must be acknowledged, is at least sin- The Bible gular. But more than this: found not to be in error, the various hints and direc- tions of the Bible, its sanitary regula- tions, the isolation of the sick, the washing, the sprinkling, the external applications, and the various moral and Nineteenth Century. 37 religious injunctions in their bearing upon health, and the treatment of sicknesses, are confessed to be in har- mony with what is most recent and approved. To be sure, the average old-school physician of a century ago would have blandly smiled at our simplicity, had it been suggested to him that his methods would be improved by following Bible hints. "What did Moses know about medical science ? " would have been his reply. But Moses, judged by recent standards, seems to have known much, or at least to have written well. A few illustrations are in point, certain " The life [sustenance] of ^ 7 g !c .i the flesh is in the blood" wei.uo.fc (Lev. xvii. 11, 14 ; comp. Gen. ix. 4), 38 N The Bible and the are the words of Moses; but they are also the words of modern medical sci- ence. And if all that is implied in this fact had been felt, and acted upon, there would have been less blood-letting by the medical profession during the last three thousand years. The effort now in the ordinary run of disease, as every- body knows, is to keep up both the quantity and quality of the blood. " Out of the heart are the issues of life " (Prov. iv. 23), is from the Book of Proverbs, and, taken in connection with Lev. xvii. 11, 14, affords at least a hint of the fact discovered by Har- vey in 1616, that the blood circulates through the human system, proceeding from the heart, and propelled by its muscular energy. Nineteenth Century. 89 So, too, the artificial production of sleep during surgical operations is thought to be a modern discovery ; but it was long ago hinted at in the Book of Genesis : "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead there- of" (Gen. ii. 21). Here was a sug- gestion which, had it been followed, might have hastened what has been a very serviceable though tardy scientific discovery. The medical profession now an- nounces these directions for the pres- ervation of health : "Be free from anxiety ; be occupied ; be temperate." These injunctions, however, are but an echo of " Diligent in business," 4 40 The Bible and the " Take no [anxious] thought for the mor* row," and be " temperate in all things-'* By following these Bible requirements, much, perhaps half, of the sickness of the world would be prevented. Then, too, the law which requires rest one day in seven from ordinary pur- suits is now admitted to be founded in a physiological necessity. And in order to save our fields from exhaustion, and our bodies from prostration, it may be- come necessary to re-enact, or at least re-observe, the sabbatical year of the Mosaic 'code ; that is, if our hard- worked professional and business men would one year in seven take relief from mental strain, nervous prostra- tion among them would not much longer be known. Nineteenth Century. 41 There are other matters enjoined in the ceremonial law, hardly suitable, perhaps, to be presented in a popular treatise, which nevertheless are coming to be acknowledged as of great impor- tance. To the sanitary excellence of those regulations, the general health of the Jewish race is recognized as a stand- ing witness. Dr. Richard- Testimony of eminent son, in his work entitled physicians. " Diseases of Modern Life," after speak- ing of the fact that the Jews, though persecuted and oppressed by every form of tyranny, enduring what no other peo- ple have been able to endure, are still potent and on the increase, uses this lan- guage: "From some cause or causes, the Jewish race presents an endurance against disease that does not belong to 42 The Bible and the other portions of the civilized commu- nities amongst which its members dwell." We presume no reader need be told that this singular condition of the Jewish race is attributed by medi- cal authorities to its obedience to those health and religious regulations enjoined in the Bible. Of more general application are the words of two other writers, whose state- ments must carry with them great weight, especially to those who are inclined to disregard what clergymen might say upon these subjects. Renouard, in his " History of Medi- cine," translated by Dr. Comegys, makes these statements : " The writings of Moses constitute a precious monu- ment in the history of medicine, for Nineteenth Century. 48 they embrace hygienic rules of the highest sagacity. ... In reading, for instance, those precepts designed to regulate the relation of a man to his wife, one cannot repress a sentiment of admiration for the wisdom and foresight which made such salutary regulations a religious duty. . . . Apart from the re- ligious ceremonies connected with them, might it not be said that they are ex- tracts from a modern work on hygien- ics ? " Mark those words, extracts from a modern work on hygienics. "But," continues Dr. Renouard, "what more than this excites the astonishment of physicians, is the tableaux that Moses has made of the white leprosy, and the regulations he established to prevent its propagation." 44 The Bible and the These certainly are highly compli- mentary words as to the correctness of Bible precept and regulation, especially as they were spoken, not for the pur- pose of defending the Bible, but from a point of view purely scientific. In this connection it may be re- marked, that leprosy, which no longer ago than 1700 prevailed in England to such an extent that leper-houses, num- bering a hundred or more, existed, has now disappeared. " It was stamped out of England," says medical history, " through a system of isolation."' But that was the biblical method of dealing with leprosy three or four thousand years ago. The late Dr. Edward Clarke speaks thus in his work on " Sex in Educa- Nineteenth Century. 45 tion : " " The instructors, the houses and schools of our country's daughters, would profit by reading the old Leviti- cal law. The race has not yet out- grown the physiology of Moses." Surely a few statements like these will forever after relieve clergymen from the necessity of defending the physio- logical code of Moses. There are other correlated matters that need detain us but a moment. The anatomist, for instance, natters dissects every part of the ^0^, physical man; the brain-cells science - are explored, the nerve-centres located, the nice dependences and adjustments of part to part are traced : and when *he work is done, the most skilful dis- secter can find no language that more 46 The Bible and the fittingly expresses his surprise and emo- tion than the words of the Psalmist, " I am fearfully and wonderfully made." The anatomical chemist, with his many instruments and modern appli- ances, carefully analyzes the human body, but discovers no ingredient in its material make-up which is not found/ in the dust beneath his feet. In the Mosaic revelation we read: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nos- trils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. ii. 7). The geologist takes the body of man where the physiologist finds it, traces its lineage back in harmony with the great laws of historic continuity to the soil, and then to the solid geological Nineteenth Century. 47 formations now known as the lower or the foundation strata of the earth. When his investigations are completed, he says, " There is beyond question,\ and under the eye of a divine intelli- gence, an unbroken historic connection between this physical body of man, and the granite foundations of the earth upon which he walks." The latest scientific statements of this fact are these : " From the lower strata of the earth have come the molecular constituents of the human body ; and God, in building up our organic nature, has guided the contents of the soil through its many and intricate changes to its final and most sublime destina- tion in the human body. . . . We have, in all this, more than the idea of intel- 48 The Bible and the ligent cause ; we have an ever-acting cause : hence evolution, instead of pushing far back the transcendental ground of being, reveals that ground as a present source of phenomena that surround us at every stage of our progress. Evolution could not go on without the constant action of this ever-present cause. Evolution, then, is simply a method by which the supreme cause acts. . . . Creation by law, evo- lution by law, development by law, or, as including all these kindred ideas, the reign of law, is nothing but the reign of creative force, directed by creative knowledge, worked under the control of creative power, and in fulfil- ment of creative purpose." Turning to a Psalm of David, we Nineteenth Century. 49 read some of these same truths in their beautiful poetico-religious dress : " Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? " If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. " If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ; " Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. " If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me ; even the night shall be light about me. " Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee ; but the night shineth as the day : the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. " For thou hast possessed my reins : thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. " I will praise thee ; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made : marvellous are thy works ; and that my soul knoweth right well. " My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. [Moll, Delitzsch, and 50 The Bible and the Hitzig speak of this language as having reference to man's origin from the dust.] " Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect ; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. " How precious also are thy thoughts imto me, O God ! how great is the sum of them ! " (Ps. cxxxix. 7-17.) When David wrote those words, there was not a man on earth who understood the chemistry of life as it is now understood ; and yet the ex- pressions are faultless as to both their great beauty and accuracy. Now, does any intelligent man con- tinue to insist that the Bible in these matters relating to medical and physio- logical science is an antiquated book ? But why was it not ]ong since anti- Nineteenth Century. 51 quated if written as other ancient books were written, by men liable to make mistakes ; by men, as we are An important told, who lived in a barbarous qnestion> age ; by men without supernatural rev- elations, and with no special authority ? /Why is it that these Sacred Scriptures 'are so much superior to all else of an- cient date? and how does it happen that they have anticipated in pathology some of the most remarkable discoveries of modern times, if they are but a book among other books? Have we not a right to ask for an intelligent answer ? The transition from the human body to the human mind is a nat- The human mind and the ural one, and brings us to our Bible, next field of inquiry, where we are con- 52 The Bible and the fronted with this question : How com- pare the teachings of the Bible with an- cient and with modern mental science? That Bible-writers do not teach in Opinions of harmony with many ancient as to the 5 * philosophers, there is no ques- mind. tion. For instance, Democ- ritus, who flourished at the time when the last of the prophets were composing their writings, tells us that the substance of the soul, or the thinking part of man, is fire. Pythagoras held essentially the same opinion, adding that it is a " self- moving unit " of fire. Diogenes the Cretan advocated the theory that the earth's atmosphere is intelligent, and that a section of this intelligent atmos' phere becomes at birth the intellectual part of man. The following conflict- Nineteenth Century. 53 ing views were likewise held by the ancient philosophical world : that the thinking part of a man emanates from the stars ; that the mind is the blood ; that it is matter; that it is the deity. There were those who located the intel- lect in the blood ; others, in the heart ; others, in the abdomen ; others, in the brain ; and others, between the eyes. Now, is it replied that these philoso- phers were attempting, as best they could, an explanation of very difficult problems, and that they should not be too severely criticised or condemned? We have not criticised them. We have no disposition to criticise them. They did as well as could be expected. They frequently adopted these views as working hypotheses, which they had an 54 The Bible and the unquestioned right to do. But a matter of fair inquiry is this: What What guarded the was it that guarded the Bible- Bible-writers against false writers in their statements opinions! . ,,. . ... against conflicting with one another, and against teaching what are now regarded erroneous views ? Though they breathed an atmosphere loaded with crude and false specula- tions, still they are free from them. It is too late in the day to reply that the Jews were not speculative philoso- Not their snp- P ners like tne Greeks, and, posed non- therefore, these matters by philosophical character. them were not touched upon. They were touched upon ; and the Jews had a philosophical as well as theological bent. The Book of Genesis bespeaks for its author a philosopher, Nineteenth Century. 55 and one of the highest order. Solo- mon, too, was a philosopher ; and there were few in his day that equalled or at least excelled him. Philo was a Jew, yet a philosopher, and especially well drilled in the Platonic school of philoso- phy. The writings of Paul show that he had the philosophical tendency, and that he might have stood high in any of the ancient schools of philosophy. In a word, the supposed lack of the philo- sophical inclination or trend can never account for the absence from the Bible of 'the self-contradictory and false teachings of ancient philosophers as to the relations and operations of the hu- man mind. Some other explanation, as every thoughtful person must admit, is needed to account for the fact that 5 56 The Bible and the Moses did not teach that the soul is a section of the atmosphere ; that David did not sing of the emanation of the soul from the stars ; that Solomon did not locate the soul in the abdomen, and that Paul did not place it between the eyes. More than this: the Bible-writers not only escaped the errors of their contem- Correctness poraries, but their psychol- L^ntsin gy> ^ t^ light of modern the light of thought, is conceded to be modern thought. correct. Magnus Frederick Roos, the great pioneer in Bible psy- chology, may be taken as a representa- tive of his class in this statement : " I take it for my guiding rule, that every- where in Scripture there reigns an accu- racy and validity worthy of God." Nineteenth Century. 57 The union of the omnipotence of Gou- and the free will of man ; the nature and power of memory, imagi- nation, reflection, and conscience ; the supremacy of man, his special endow- ments, and, we may add, his excep- tional creation, as stated in the Bible, are found to be in perfect harmony, we do not say with all the various philo- sophical hypotheses of modern times, but with all well-established data of the dominant philosophical and scien- tific systems of modern times. The argument, too, derived from the benefit of the Bible upon The moral the mind of man, is a special argument derived from philosophical topic Which Of BiWeinflu- itself is sufficient to form an entire treatise. No one denies, and 58 The Bible and the no one can deny, that the precious truths of the Bible have carried into the humble cottage of the peasant, and into the homes of the city, a refine- ment of intellect and a tenderness of heart which otherwise would never have existed there ; and that the history of America, of all Europe, indeed, we may say of the whole world, shows that national purity and enlightenment are always in proportion to biblical knowledge and practice among the peo- ple. Few if any thoughtful persons will question the statement that if the Bible is philosophically false its influ- ence could not have been followed by such beneficial results, nor have this quality and quantity of indorsement. In order to avoid a multiplicity of Nineteenth Century. 59 subjects, we may, in this connection, speak of the mental methods Mental methods of of the Bible. As every the Bible. reader is aware, Aristotle, by what must be regarded as a powerful system of reasoning, held the world captive for a thousand years. Yet to-day his method, and other methods based upon it, are superseded by what is known as the inductive process of Sir Francis Bacon, which is the bringing together of sev- eral facts belonging to a class, and then drawing from them an inference or con- clusion. Now, is it not somewhat remarkable, that at the very time when the system of reasoning used and perfected by Aristotle held sway over the minds of men, the method introduced by 60 The Bible and the Bacon was almost constantly employed by Bible writers ? Even before Aristotle, Examples of we find in the concluding inductive reasoning. chapters of Job some of the most perfect examples possible of Baco- nian reasoning: the glory and majesty of Jehovah are there inferred from the various works of creation, by the same methods now adopted by all distin- guished scientists the world over. Paul, too, in the Epistle to the Romans, gives the key to the inductive method as applied to both the visible and invisible universe when saying, " For the invisible things of him from the crea- tion of the world are clearly seen, being under- stood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" (Rom. i. 20). Nineteenth Century. 61 Chancellor Dawson, in reviewing the school of thought represented by John Stuart Mill, and while speaking espe- cially of Mill's essay on Theism, says, " It is certainly a remarkable coinci- dence, that the only way in which Paul said that the heathen could, without revelation, attain to the knowledge of God, is precisely that which this scepti- cal English philosopher singles out as the only argument valid to his mind." Our Lord also frequently employed this method of reasoning. Notably was this the case whenever presenting the claims of his mission and authority. For instance, he wrought his wonderful deeds before the people, and then said to them, The works that I do bear witness of me (John v. 36). It is as 62 The Bible and tlie if he had said, " Look at these works ; test them : their draw your inferences." " Believe me for the very works' sake " (John xiv. 11), was, too, the inductive appeal ever upon his lips. How ad- mirably this is illustrated, when the disciples of John inquired, "Art thou be that should come? or look we for another ? " (Luke vii. 19.) We read, that "In that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. "Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and beard ; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not b offended in me." (Luke vii. 21-23.) Nineteenth Century. 63 We must pause in the midst of the many illustrations that present them- selves. In a word, the Bible abounds, almost to the exclusion of other meth- ods of reasoning, with those now recog- nized as the most valid and profound, though opposed to the methods em- ployed throughout the civilized world at the time the larger part of the Bible was written. The method Dependence adopted by Cousin in his " Course of Modern Philoso- JJJ- the phy," by Sir William Hamil- method. ton in his " Metaphysics," by Spencer in his " First Principles," by John Stuart Mill in his various philosophical writ- ings, by Darwin, Huxley, and Tyndall in their treatises upon physical science, is the Bible method made ready for the 64 The Bible and the use of these recent writers by Bacon, and made ready for his use by the prophets, the Master, and his apostles. This dependence upon the Bible can be easily shown. Bacon's estimate of the wonderful book is suggestive : " There never was found, in any age of the world, either religion or law that did so highly exalt the public good as the Bible." And be it remembered that Bacon did not become inductive and practical in his reasoning until, through his admiration and study of the Bible, his mind had become imbued with the inductive and practical theology of the Bible. Is there nothing, therefore, in all these matters to excite our surprise? How did it chance that the Bible in its Nineteenth Century. 65 statements of psychological facts, and in its psychological methods, is so re- cent, and so different from How shall the other ancient literature? correctness of Bible psy- Can any peculiarity of the choiogybe Jew afford explanation? If so, a wonderful, a supernatural being, is the Jew. Such a supposition is, of course, untenable. If, however, it is admitted that the writers and compi- lers of the Bible were providentially se- lected, and were providentially guarded against introducing errors into the com- position of the Sacred Scriptures, and were providentially helped in their writ- ing, then we have an answer to a multi- tude of questions that seemingly, upon any other supposition, must remain un- answered if not unanswerable. 66 The Bible and the With this division of our topic we cannot delay longer, but we pass for a few moments to matters prop- The Bible In its relation erly grouped under govern- to govern- ment and ment and civilization. J^or civilization. . , . . . , . since these subjects are based upon general principles and truths, and are consequently included in the field of scientific investigation, they fall prop- erly within the limits of this discussion. Since no small amount of the teach- ing of the Bible is manifestly designed to set forth the rules and principles which should govern the conduct of men in their various relations with one another, it follows, that if it is what it claims to be, a providential, excep- tional, and inspired book, then, in its precepts relating to these matters, it Nineteenth Century. 67 must not only be .superior to what is generally taught in ancient The Bible literature, but must be a it inspired worthy standard and a court ultimate of ultimate appeal as long as the world stands. Is it such a court of appeal ? Let us first, in this connection, ex- amine the teachings of the Bible as to the general principles of le- TIie Bible gal science and philosophy. >Bdlaw - Of the world's judgment respecting the two tables of commandments, there is no ground for question. Perhaps an intelligent person cannot be found who will dissent from this statement, that these two tables recorded in the writ- ings of Moses contain in a general form the Vital principles of all modern legal 68 The Bible and the science, judicial, national, and interna- tional. Is not that a fact upon scien- tific grounds worthy of careful study ? While a sceptical lawyer was read- ing these commandments, and while thinking of their accuracy, their pro- fundity, and their marvellous compre- hensiveness, he was led to reason thus : " I have read history. The Egyptians and the adjacent nations were idolaters ; so were the Greeks and Romans: and the wisest and best Greeks or Romans never gave a code like this. Where did Moses get this law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy of the most en- lightened ages? He lived at a period comparatively barbarous; but he has given a law in which the learning and sagacity of all subsequent time can de- Nineteenth Century. 69 tect no flaw. Where did he get it? He could not have soared so far above his age as to have devised it himself." It was through this sound process of reasoning, that the lawyer was led out of his infidelity into the realms of Christian faith. And, too, is it not a forcible corrobo- ration of the exalted legal philosophy of the Bible, that such mas- The Bible ters in legal lore as Black- 7 n r e e B d t by stone, Somers, Marshall, law y ers ' Story, and Kent were reverent admirers of its sacred pages? But would they have been if its teachings were not pro- found and true ? Perhaps, however, the unbeliever points to the Roman law as a grand monument of human sagacity and wis 70 The Bible and the dom. In a measure it is such. But its obligation to Bible thinking and com- Obiigationof mandment, no scholar will Roman lair to the Bible, venture to question. In- deed, Roman law, which lies at the basis of nearly all European law, never could have been what it is except for the influence of Christianity upon the Roman nationality. Dr. A. P. Peabody, in an article on " The Influence of Christianity upon Roman Law," thus wisely states the case : " The actual reformers of the Roman law were, all of them, nominally Chris- tian. Constantino can hardly be termed a Christian in the interior, spiritual sense of the word; but he called him- self one, and his improved legislation was under the guidance, and I might Nineteenth Century. 71 say under the direction, of the bishops whom he regarded as endowed with divine wisdom and authority. Justin-x ian, the greatest legislator of all time, was a zealous Christian, in some re- spects only too zealous, for he was an unrelenting persecutor of heretics, Jews, and Pagans. Of the series of Christian emperors, there was hardly one whose decrees did not bear the impress of his faith, and aid in vindicating the rights of long-depressed humanity." The present constitutional law of England, too, owes vastly more to the Bible than is generally sup- The constitu- posed. Every student of le- " on f n r!, * England, and gal science and history knows the Blble - that the laws of Alfred and of Edward the Confessor, and even those framed 6 72 The Bible and the as late as the days of Coke, continually cited the Scriptures as ultimate author- ity. These questions are, therefore, perti- nent: Have any of the general prin- ciples of the Roman law, and of the constitutional law of Engltfnd, been out- grown? Are they likely to be? And, therefore, is not the Bible in a fair way to remain a court of ultimate appeal ? What is true of law is equally true in the allied fields of political science The Bible and civilization. Bible truth and politic-ill science. and commandment, as already suggested, have been the great regula- tive and reformative power among the nations. No period or country has been visited by them without receiving both advancement and elevation. No nation Nineteenth Century. 73 has received tfiem into its heart without feeling the flush of health in its cheek, and the vigor of life throughout the body politic. The Bible has been a standing protestation against usurpa- tions and intolerances of every form, the world oyer, and history through. Such masters in political science as Grotius, Selden, Montesquieu, Raleigh, Burke, Pitt, the Adamses, The Bibie and Webster never had a eminent thought of questioning, in statesmen. matters of political life and legislation, the correctness of Bible statement. Passages from the Scriptures were quoted by these men as though they were a final appeal, a decision from the highest, the supreme court of the world. 74 The Bible and the An African prince sent an ambassa- dor to Queen Victoria, asking the secret of England's superiority among the na- tions. The Queen, handing the ambas- sador a copy of the Bible, said, " Go tell Secret of your prince that this is the England's . greatness. secret of England s political greatness." It is Bible knowledge and practice which makes England pre-emi- nent : it is a disregard of Bible precept and practice which has brought a blush to the cheek of some of her dearest friends. Sept. 26, 1815, the three great mon- archs of the world, Alexander of Russia, Francis of Austria, and Frederic Wil- liam of Prussia, ruling seventy millions of people, signed and published in Paris, amid the clashing and din of Nineteenth Century. To war, " The Holy Alliance," one of the most important state papers of modern times. In it, these rulers "The Holy solemnly recognized before A11I * nce< " the world the religion of the Sacred Scriptures as the only true basis of po- litical relations, and the only safe legal directory for the nations of the earth : they pledged themselves "to act on the principles of the gospel, and to follow the rules of justice, charity, and peace." The world clearly saw, that if those professions were sincere, and if they should be followed, an improvement of inestimable advantage in national and international diplomacy and law would certainly result. Our own Declaration of Independ* ence, in which we have an honest pride. 76 The Bible and the is but an echo of the majestic chrono- logical table which concludes thus : Declaration " Who was the son of Adam, of Independ- ence, who was the son of God." When, therefore, our government dis- criminates against any people seeking a home upon these shores, it makes war against itself, and antagonizes laws more potent than those of gravitation. Sooner or later the penalty for such inconsistency, selfishness, and injustice must be paid. When any people are fit for self-rule, a monarchy, especially if inclined to ab- solutism, is not, according to the Scrip- tures, a desirable form of government (1 Sam. viii.) ; and this view, as every one knows, is in harmony with the drift of modern thought and effort. Nineteenth Century. 77 We may add also, that at least one of the Hebrew prophets anticipated the coining among men of a rep- Be p nblicail resentative republican form & OTernment - of government like the one under which we are now living (Jer. xxx. 21), one in which those among the humblest classes may rise to positions of highest authority. Lactantius, rejoicing over the conver- sion of Constantine, indulges in glowing anticipations of the approaching regen- eration of mankind, when the false gods shall all be overthrown, and He alone be worshipped whose temples are not of clay or of stone, but are men fashioned in the image of their Creator. Benefits of Bible faith "If God alone were worship- and practice, ped, then should war and dissensions 78 The Bible and the be no more, for men would know that they are all children of the same Divine Father. " Bound together in the sacred and inviolable bonds of heavenly truth, they would no more plot in secret against each other, when they should know the punishments prepared for the slayer of souls by an omniscient God, to whom all hidden evil and the innermost secrets of their hearts are revealed. Fraud and rapine would be no more ; for men would have learned of God to be content with what they have, and to seek' for the lasting gifts of heaven, rather than for the perishable things of earth. "Adultery and prostitution would cease when they were taught that God Nineteenth Century. 79 had forbidden disorderly appetites ; nor would woman be forced to sell her virtue for a wretched subsistence, when men should control their passions, and charity should minister to all the wants of the poor. These evils would vanish from the earth if all were brought unto the law of God, and all should do what now one people alone are found to do. How blessed would be that golden age among men, if throughout the world were love and kindness and peace and innocence and justice and temperance and faith! There would then be no need of many and subtle laws, where innocence would need only the one law of God. Neither prisons nor the sword of the judge would be wanted, when the hearts of men, glowing with the divine 80 The Bible and the precepts, would of themselves seek the works of justice." Such would be the inestimable bless- ings coming to any country, were the people governed by the precepts of Bible Christianity. It may not be out of place to remark in this connection, that there are many The Bible friends of our Republic who united" are ' a * present, extremely states. anxious concerning its fu- ture welfare. The feeling is deepening in many hearts, that our country is already within circles whose centre is a destructive whirlpool ; that our wealth, education, and material aggran- dizement afford not the slightest hope or help ; that political corruption, and the antagonisms between capital and Nineteenth Century. 81 labor, which are our national bane, will become more and more threatening and perilous, and that before long the end will be reached. But can any one doubt, if the Ameri- can people would conform to the pre- cepts of the Bible, if they would make its teachings their rule of faith and practice, that blessing instead of curs- ing would be found within our borders, and that such a nation would rise on this continent as would fill with trans- ports of delight the heart of every true patriot ? Does this statement need con- firmation ? Says Daniel opinions of Webster, "If we abide by f^wni'iaia the principles taught in the H - s d, and Profes- Bible, our country will go on sor B wen ' prospering and to prosper; but if we 82 The Bible and the and our posterity neglect its instruc- tions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may over- whelm us, arid bury all our glory in profound obscurity." Of wider application are the words of William H. Seward, whom all acknowl- edge to have been one of the ablest political philosophers this country has ever produced : " The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever-growing influence of the Bible.'' / May I quote, too, from the pages of the late Professor Francis Bowen of Harvard College : " I have faithfully studied most of what the philosophy of these modern times, and the science of our own day, assume to teach. And the result is, that I am now more firmly Nineteenth Century. 83 convinced than ever, that what has been justly called the 'dirt-philosophy' of materialism and fatalism is baseless and false. I accept with unhesitating convic- tion and belief the doctrine of the being of one personal God, the Creator and Governor of the world, and of one Lord Jesus Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; and I have found nothing whatever in the lit- erature of modern infidelity, which, to my mind, casts even the slightest doubt upon that belief. Not being a clergy- man, I am not exposed to the cruel imputation, which unbelievers have too long been permitted to fling against the clergy, of being induced by prudential motives to profess what they do not believe. Let me be permitted also to 84 The Bible and the repeat the opinion, which I ventured to express as far back as 1549, that the time seems to have arrived for a more practical and immediate Verification, than the world has ever yet witnessed, of the great truth that the civilization which is not based upon Christianity is big with the elements of it? own de- struction." And now, does some one affirm in face of all these facts and opinions, and of a multitude of similar opinions which could be given, that Bible Christianity is not a safeguard of civil and religious liberty in this country, or that it is a damage to the weal of our national and individual life and character? How utterly preposterous ! Not, therefore, the theories of the Nineteenth Century. 85 communist, or the nihilist, of the world- ling, or the formalist, of the enthusi- ast, or the ascetic, of the latitudinarian, or the bigot, of the Brahmin or the Mohammedan ; but Bible Christianity in its inspired simplicity and power, which more than any thing else known among men checks an impure fancy, arms conscience with a divine power, awakes religious sensibilities, refines the moral sentiments, evolves devout affec- tions, displays well-directed philanthro- pies, promotes determinations to do exactly right at all times and in all things; which leads to industry, in- spires courage, patriotism, and intelli- gence ; and whose tendency is to make of every man a loyal and a royal son of God, is what, beyond any and every 86 The Bible and the thing else, will aid in establishing the prosperity and perpetuity of the Ameri- can Republic. We next give attention for a few The Bible minutes to the subject of civ- and civiliza- tion, ilization, which comprehends something more than government. Since the best human governments, and all countries which are advanced in civilization, foster learning, literature, and art, it will be no departure from our general subject briefly to speak, in this connection, of the relation of the Bible to these various topics. We are not unmindful of the fact that it is sometimes said that the influ- Learningand 611Ce f the Bible ' and f the literature. religion which it teaches, is adverse to advancement in learning. Nineteenth Century. 87 Our reply is : Whatever the bigotry of some nominal Christians, or whatever the traditions of some of the elders, may have been, one fact is certain, that Bible religion in its spirit has fos- tered every branch of human learning. If this statement is doubted, let the question be answered: Whence came the colleges and universities of the civ- ilized world ? The founders of Prague, of Vienna, of Heidelberg, of Leipzig, of Leyden, of Utrecht, of Jena, of Halle, of Tubingen, of Gottingen, of Berlin, and of Bonn ; the founders of Salamanca, of Oviedo, of Valladolid; of Cambridge, of Oxford, of Edinburgh, of Glasgow, of St. Andrews, and of Aberdeen ; the founders of Harvard, of Yale, of Dart- mouth, of Union ; and, with the rarest 88 The Bible and the exceptions, the founders of all other seminaries and colleges, were men who had partaken of the spirit of Bible Christianity; who, with its divine im- pulses and inspirations upon them, had sacrificed and consecrated time and means to the establishment of schools where science and literature could be critically studied and thoroughly taught. Nay, more, "when all the rest of man- kind were caring either for the mere necessities of physical being, or for wars of aggrandizement, Bible men were holding up the torch of science, and striving by its light to read and under- stand the wonderful works of God. In the monasteries even, amid many dark and superstitious souls it is true, were found the Roger Bacons who were the Nineteenth Century. 89 predecessors of the Newtons and Boer- haaves and Lavoisiers of later ages. It is vain to say they were persecuted. That makes only against their age ; not against themselves, or the Bible im- petus under which they acted. The universities were always on the side of liberal study, and opposed to the re- straints of superstition ; and to them, under God, science is indebted for the high ground on which she stands to- day." Is it to be wondered at, therefore, that the friends of the Bible are some- times impatient in view of the assertion of liberalists and sceptics, so often made, that Bible Christianity is a friend of ig- norance, and a foe to culture and intelli- gence? What mean these traducers? 90 The Bible and the The facts in the case are, that, against the learning and literature of the last thousand years, there is an indebted- ness to the Bible that can never be re- paid. The immortal Sir Walter Scott is not the only man of literature who has cheerfully confessed, " There is but one book." The influence of the Bible in the realms of architecture and art can re- ceive but a passing remark. Architecture. It is a matter of fact, that no Parthenon, indeed, no beautiful architec- ture of any kind, is found in the world until after the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. There were massive struc- tures in Babylon and Egypt ; they were imposing, but not beautiful. In an essay by the accomplished architect Nineteenth Century. 91 William Wilkins, entitled "The Tem- ple at Jerusalem the Type of Grecian Architecture," it is claimed that the finest specimens of architecture which adorned the Acropolis were manifestly suggested by the Temple on Mount Zion. And Robert Wood, in a treatise bearing the title, " The Origin of Build- ing, and the Plagiarisms of the Heathen detected," reaches essentially the same conclusion. Now, we insist that any peculiarity in the make-up of the Jew utterly fails in accounting for the union of beauty and magnificence in the architecture and outfit of their temple. Indeed, the en- tire Semitic family seems to have been singularly destitute of architectural ge- nius. But if it is admitted that the 92 The Bible and the plans of those structures, the tabernacle and temple, were given to the Jews by supernatural revelation, as is claimed to have been the case (Exod. xxv. 40 ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 11, 12), then at least one form of the difficulty vanishes. We may add that the world's great- est sculpture, painting, and music have found their inspirations and themes chiefly in the Bible, and that these de- partments of art can never throw off their direct and indirect allegiance to the pages of this wonderful book. We close our reference to these art matters with a quotation from Ruskin, the great master of aesthetics. All educated painters are aware of the al- most endless amount of discussion that has existed respecting the true founda- Nineteenth Century. 93 tion of coloring. Ruskin, in "Modern Painters," chapter on " Turnerian Light," thus closes the sec- q notatloil tion on "Color:" "Finally, '"*" the ascertainment of the sanctity of color is not left to human genius. It is directly stated in the Scriptures in the sacred chord of color (blue, purple, and scarlet, with white and gold), as appointed for the tabernacle. This chord," continues Ruskin, "is the fixed base of all coloring with the workmen of every great age, and the invariable base of all beautiful missal-painting." Is it not singular that the coloring and tapestry ordered for the tabernacle, as also, we may add, the blending of colors in the walls of the New Jeru- salem, as disclosed in the Book of 94 The Bible and the Revelation, harmonize perfectly with the ideal conceptions of modern art and aesthetics? Do some of these matters appear of small importance? Taken separately they may seem thus, but not when built with all other facts into a defence of the Bible as a book which, in its lesser as well as its greater and grander revelations, has been guarded against errors, ancient and modern. In order that the impression of nar- rowness as to our range of view, while discussing the influence of the Bible upon the world's civilization, may not be left upon the mind of the reader, we enlarge for a moment the circle of vision before passing to other matters. It is a fact in history which, perhaps, Nineteenth Century. 95 no one will venture to dispute, that civil and religious liberty, national purity and advancement, TheB ibie have been coincident with " d / he , history of the knowledge and practice Mntion. among the people of Bible truths, or at least of such truths as are found in the Bible. That the Commonwealth of Israel throughout its history was common- wealth of prosperous in proportion to Israel. its adherence to Bible precepts, is an acknowledged historic fact. That the other ancient civilized countries of the world, notably those bordering upon Palestine, ABCieBt had been influenced by what MUOI. are termed sacred truths, received from Noah, Abraham, and Moses, and had 96 The Bible and the been benefited by them, truths which were religiously preserved by the patri- archs and prophets, entering subse- quently into the composition of the Bible, is no longer a question in dis- pute. And, further, that the overthrow of those civilizations is traceable to practices which are antagonistic to those enjoined in the Bible, is a fact that can be easily established. That Greece and Rome, too, in the earlier periods of their history, were Greece and benefited by an acquaintance Rome. with the Jewish common- wealth and religion, can no longer be doubted. How much or how directly that acquaintance may have contributed to their greatness and glory, we may never be able to ascertain ; but that it Nineteenth Century. 97 was in no small degree, will be cheer- fully admitted. And that their subse- quent overthrow resulted from the indulgence of practices which are op- posed to Bible commandment, is as clear as any other fact in their history. Also, that all heathen lands, ancient and modern, are anti-biblical in their faith and practice, is another Heathen fact so true that no one lands> would think of calling it in .question ; indeed, such countries are and have been heathen and degraded because in their practices they are anti-biblical. In view, therefore, of all these facts, is there any room for doubt that the best civilizations of antiquity were, at least in some instances, directly bene- fited by Bible truth, and in every in- 98 The Bible and the stance were made greater by their conformity to truths like those found in the Bible, and declined when that conformity ceased ? But let us pass to later times. Bible Christianity succeeded Bible Judaism, Medivai and the peoples coming under times. jj. g i n fl uence W ere blessed. But since the normal tendencies of humanity are downward, nominal Chris- tians, as might be expected, soon lapsed from their adherence to the pure and beautiful precepts of the gospel. Bible truth, therefore, was again hidden from the mass of the people; and their joy was turned to mourning, their light to darkness. Since those times there is no disput- ing the fact that light has been in pro- Nineteenth Centhry. 99 portion to the prevalence of Bible faith and practice. When, for instance, in the fourteenth century, Wick- Modeni liff and Huss translated the Enr i M5 - Bible, and preached its truths, they inaugurated almost a new era in the world's history. When Luther, too, in the sixteenth century brought the truths of the Bible from the convent of Erfurth, and gave them to the people, he roused to mental and moral life not only the slumbering German nationality, but gave inspira- tion to every other country in Europe. " Gutenburg with his printing-press, Columbus with his compass, Galileo with his telescope, Shakspeare with his dramas, and almost every other man of note figuring during those times, are 100 The Bible and the grouped, not around some distinguished man of science, or man of letters, or man of mechanical genius, or man fa- mous in war ; but around that monk of Wittenberg, who stood with an un- chained Bible in his hand." And when that other remarkable group of reformers during the eighteenth century re-enforced the doctrines of the Bible, the people again started from their nightmare and anguish on a new and grand march of civilization and pros- perity. The history of the Dutch Republic, too, shows that it was the recognition of Bible truth, and loyalty to it, which placed Holland, during the seventeenth century, in the fore-front of the civili- zation of the world. NineteentJi Century. 101 And Scotland, though peopled for centuries, had no prosperous national life until it was stirred by the inspira- tion of Bible thought and practice. " Bible faith and practice " was, too, the bold inscription upon the banner of the Puritans, and made New Eng- land what it is. And the present laxity and unrest of our country come, as men begin to suspect, from trailing that same royal banner in the dust. But we must pause in this historic review. Before doing so, however, we wish to ask those who are wont to say that the Bible is merely a book among other books, how it chanced Another important that these Bible writers and question, compilers, who, for the most part, lived in a country of limited territory, whose 102 The Bible and the educational advantages were far from the best, whose nation during the greater part of its history was entirely destitute of political influence, could under such circumstances have given the world a book which in all matters of law, poli- tics, and government, likewise in mat- ters relating to what is highest, best, and grandest in modern civilization, stands without a peer in this world's literature ? Ah, wonderful book ! Men, we trust, will some day acknowledge thy claims to special authorship. The next field of knowledge to which we ask attention is that included under natural history. One of the Nineteenth Century. 103 principles governing this discussion, already announced, we repeat : that, while the Bible was not de- TheBiwe and natural signed to be a treatise upon history. natural history, still, however numerous its statements or allusions in this de- partment of science, there must be no inaccuracy, provided the book is what orthodoxy represents it to be. Under the general head of natural history, we speak first of botany. Up- on examination it will be Botanr. found that the Old Testa- ment alone contains more than two hun- dred and fifty distinct botanical terms. It speaks of the flora of all the ancient countries bordering upon the Mediterra- nean Sea ; the great cedar of Lebanon is described and extolled, and the little vine 104 The Bible and the on the trellis is not forgotten : and yet no inaccuracy is found in any of its statements or allusions. Can this fact be other than a surprise to any one who is familiar with what Plato, Empedocles, Aristotle, and Plutarch have said as to the composition and nature of the plant- world? We are not criticising the ignorance or the crude and wild hy- potheses of those wise men : we are merely expressing surprise at the wis- dom of the " ignorant men " (?) who wrote the Bible. The latest botanists are classifying plants according to what is known as the seed-method. But this is the meth- od employed by Moses when speaking of the grass and herb yielding seed, and the tree yielding fruit whose seed is in Nineteenth Century. 105 itself (Gen. i. 12). This, for a general classification, is perfect, and is modern. Even the geology of the plant- world, as to which other ancient literature abounds in all sorts of errors, is with ab- solute correctness disclosed in the Bible. Thus, too, of zoological science, which is another department of natural history. While many of the , , , / views advanced by Anaxago- ras, Pythagoras, Plato, Democritus, and Epicurus seem, according to modern view, to be needlessly and grossly at fault, yet, under the most recent and careful examination, the Bible, though describing all sorts of animal life, from the leviathan to the snail, from the lion in the forest to the moth upon the gar- ment, is found to be above reasonable 106 The Bible and the criticism. Its accuracy in some respects is remarkable. It speaks of the vulture, not in the words of the poet, as scenting " the carrion from afar," but as finding its prey through the keenness of its eye, which is, as a matter of scientific fact, correct; it speaks of the industry and provident character of the ant, a state- ment once ridiculed, but now confirmed in the known habits of the " harvesting ant " of Syria ; it discloses the fact that animal life inhabited the sea before appearing upon the earth ; it gives cor- rectly the geology of animal life, and enumerates the four great divisions of the animal creation in the order of nature, as now taught by the most ap- proved science, beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes. Nineteenth Century. 107 So likewise the references of the Bible to the various meteorological phenom- ena are worthy of attention, Meteorology. though they can receive but a passing mention. Note the following: " All the rivers run into the sea ; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again " (Eccles. i. 7) ; and, "The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about unto the north. The wind returneth again according to its circuit " (Eccles. i. 6). These may be poetic statements, but that does not ex- plain how, as brief and accurate descrip- tions of water and aerial circulations, they chance to have scarcely a parallel in the literature of the ancient world, and can hardly be improved upon even in our own day. 108 The Bible and the " He that fainteth not, neither is weary," is represented as the One who hath made " a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning." He it is who "bindeth up the waters in his thick cloud, and the cloud is not rent under them ; " " he draweth up the drops of water: rain is condensed from his vapor." These also are held to be poetic expressions, but their accuracy is none the less a marvel. It is likewise the Infinite One, " who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance" (Isa. xl. 12). This lan- guage is but another way of saying that Nineteenth Century. 109 in the physical universe there are the nicest adjustments of part to part; that "one grain more or less of sand," to quote from science, " would disturb, or even fatally disorder, except for some supernatural interposition, the whole scheme of the heavenly motions." The object we have in view in this treatise does not allow further discus- sion in the field of natural history. We, therefore, merely add that not- withstanding the Bible, as we have seen, refers to a multitude of phenom- ena belonging to this department of science ; and notwithstanding the con- temporaneous or nearly contemporane- ous treatises of the Indians, the Chinese, the Greeks, and the Romans, abound in the falsest speculations, still no 110 The Bible and the mistakes are found in the Bible. Its records in these respects are as immacu- late as if written by the best scholars of modern times. We do not claim that the Bible is as full as if it were designed to be a scientific treatise, or that its writers themselves understood all they said, or that in every instance they knew distinctly why they compiled into the Bible some materials, and re- jected others which were at their com- mand : we simply assert that thus far in our investigations we find the Bible free from the errors which everywhere pre- vailed at the time it was composed. The statement of the late Lieut. Maury, who is now recognized as having been one of the leading scientific men of his age, on account of both his valuable dis- Nineteenth Century. Ill coveries, and his contributions to. scien- tific literature, is in point, and is author- itative. In his "Physical Geography of the Sea," he employs this Oplnlonof language: "The Bible fre- Lleut - Maur y- quently makes allusion to the laws of nature, their operation and effects. But such allusions are often so wrapped in the folds of the peculiar and graceful drapery with which its language is oc- casionally clothed, that the meaning, though peeping out from its thin cov- ering all the while, yet lies in some sense concealed, until the lights and revelations of science are thrown upon it; then it bursts out, and strikes us with the more force and beauty." And elsewhere this distinguished writer re- marks, "I have always found in my 112 The Bible and the scientific studies, that, when I could get the Bible to say any thing upon the subject, it afforded me a firm platform to stand upon, and a round in the lad- der by which I could safely ascend." These words read like those of the Psalmist when saying, " Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right." But can it be possible that in all these matters there should have been this freedom from mistakes, and in the light of modern investigation this won- derful accuracy of statement, unless the Bible writers and compilers were, as the apostle says, " pheromenoi" borne along by the Holy Spirit as a ship is borne before the wind? Nineteenth Century. 113 At this point some one asks, Why does the writer spend his time with this less-controverted subject-matter? Why does he not boldly take up matters found within the realms of geology and astronomy, over which the friends and the enemies of the Bible have been waging their fiercest warfare? The question is pertinent, and we at once and willingly accept the implied chal- lenge. Ancient literature bearing upon the origin of the earth is comparatively full, and not devoid of in- The Blble terest. and 8eology - The Egyptians, as Plato informs us, taught that the earth and the heavens originated out of a kind of pulp, and that men were generated from the slime 114 The Bible and the of the river Nile. Other sages of Egypt held that the world was hatched from a winged 'egg. It may be too Teachings of the ancients bold to say that modern sci- as to the origin of ence can disprove these theo- ries ; but all friends of the Bible are well pleased that Moses did not say men were generated from the slime of the river Nile, and that Solo- mon did not say the world was hatched from a winged egg. But why did not these Bible writers so teach ? Was not Moses "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians " ? Lucretius, in his poem " On the Na- ture of Things," affirms that "nature does all things spontaneously, without the intermeddling of the gods." But modern research announces that there Nineteenth Century. 115 is not the slightest evidence that any form of life ever has been, or ever can be, produced by spontaneous generation. Aristotle claimed that matter pro- duced all things. But modern research finds not a shred of evidence that mat- ter can produce any form of life, even the lowest, except through the agency of antecedent life. Zeno held that the universe sprang into existence from its own inherent energy, and Epicurus taught that it happened to come into existence " by a fortuitous concourse of atoms." But "inherent energy," and "fortuitous con- course of atoms," are expressions which are now being set aside by science. Plutarch, after studying all the an- cient philosophers, arrived at this con- 116 The Bible and the elusion : " The insectible bodies, or atoms, by a wild and fortuitous motion, without any governing power, inces- santly and swiftly were hurried one against another, many bodies being jumbled together; upon this account they have a diversity in their figures and magnitude. . . . After this mariner the principal parts of the earth were constituted." One need not be told that these words, in the light of modern investigation, are nothing but the sheer- est nonsense. Still cruder and falser, if possible, are the views that have prevailed in India and China. Of these we have no need or time to speak. These opinions and teachings of ancient literature bearing upon the Nineteenth Century. 117 origin of things have, beyond contro- versy, no modern scientific support. The statement of Sir William Sir William Thomson, in his address upon Thomson gives expros- taking the presidential chair sum to mod- of the British Association, at the Edinburgh meeting, may be taken as representative of the best thought of the present age. Heinrich Frey, Lionel S. Beale, W. H. Dallinger, Lotze, Wundt, Helmholtz, and other of the profounclest thinkers of Europe and America, have given expression to the same opinion. "A very ancient speculation," says Thomson, " still clung to by many natu- ralists (so much so, that I have a choice of modern terms to quote in expressing it), supposes that, under meteorological 118 The Bible and the conditions very different from the pres- ent, dead matter may have run together or crystallized or fermented into 'germs of life,' or 'organic cells,' or 'proto- plasm.' But science brings a vast mass of inductive evidence against this hy- pothesis of spontaneous generation, as you have heard from my predecessor in the presidential chair. Careful enough scrutiny has, in every case up to the present day, discovered life as ante- cedent to life. Dead matter cannot become living without coming under the influence of matter previously alive. This seems to me as sure a teaching of science as the law of gravitation." But what is this life that never had a beginning, that has life in and of itself eternally ? this that commanded the Nineteenth Century. 119 earth to " bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yield- ing fruit after his kind " ? that com- manded the waters to "bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life '!? and that "giveth to all life, and breath, and all things " ? The Bible upon its every page declares that this antecedent Life and Maker of all things is a supreme Intelligence, called God ; and modern science makes the same confession, or is dumb. From the origin of the earth to the history of its subsequent formations, is the next step in our investigations. Any attempt to treat all the various matters relating to the geology of the Bible in their fulness is manifestly out of the question. Such a treatment 120 The Bible and the would of itself require a volume of many pages. The object we have in view may, therefore, be best accom- plished by quoting the opinions of those \vho are in every way fitted to judge in these matters. And certainly all thoughtful men, under the circum- stances, will justify this argument based upon authority. The first proposition to be estab- lished is this : While the Bible was not written to teach geological science, it has nevertheless, in a general way, es- pecially in the first chapters of Genesis, recorded the geological his- Opinions of tory of OUr globe ; and, aC- eminent men J as to the cording to the testimony of geology of ._ the Bible. men eminent as scientific thinkers, it has made in its record no Nineteenth Century. 121 mistakes. The following testimonies are presented in evidence. " The relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the Bible, when both are understood," says the late Professor Silliman of Yale College, "is that of perfect harmony." Chancellor Dawson, who has be- stowed upon this subject the most patient and critical attention, thus expresses the result of his investiga- tions as to what is termed the geology of Moses : " The order of creation, as stated in Genesis, is faultless in the light of modern science, and many of its details present the most remarkable agreement with the results of sciences born only in our own day." Similar to these words, though not 122 The Bible and the so explicit, are those of the late Pro- fessor Benjamin Peirce of Harvard College : " Science and religion were born of the same house, and that house is not divided against itself. There is and will be an apparent conflict be- tween them ; but it is of human origin, arising from the defects of our knowl- edge and not from the greatness of it." Professor Arnold Henry Guyot, whose name is enrolled with almost every noted scientific association of the world, thus speaks of the harmony be- tween the Bible and nature's records of creation : " To a sincere and unsophis- ticated mind, it must be evident that the grand outlines sketched by Moses are the same as those which modern science enables us to trace. The same Nineteenth Century. 123 divine Hand which lifted up before the eyes of Daniel and of Isaiah the veil which covered the tableau of time to come, unveiled before the eyes of the author of Genesis the earliest ages of the creation ; and Moses was the prophet of the past, as Daniel and Isaiah and many others were the prophets of the future." Hugh Miller, whose acute observa- tion, exact reasoning, and finished style have rendered him celebrated in science and literature, speaking of the geologic prophecies of the Scriptures, says, " These latent scientific prophecies or anticipations of the word of God, of which we have been speaking, seem to have been so deeply embedded in the sacred text that the world has not seen them hitherto ; nor, indeed, could see 124 The Bible and the them now, were it not that our advan- cing science is revealing them. The geologic prophecies, though they might have been read, could not be under- stood till the fulness of the time had come. And it is only as the fulness of the time comes, in the brighter light of increasing scientific knowledge, that these grand old oracles of the Bible, so apparently simple, but so marvellously pregnant with meaning, stand forth at once cleared of all erroneous human glosses, and vindicated as the inspired testimonies of Jehovah." Professor Dana, whose scientific pub- lications have placed him in the front rank among philosophic naturalists, speaks thus while writing of the Mosaic account of creation : " The first thought Nineteenth Century. 125 that strikes the scientific reader is the evidence of divinity, not merely in the first verse of the record and the succes- sive fiats, but in the whole order of creation. There is so much chat the most recent readings of science have for the first time explained, that the idea of man as the author becomes utterly incomprehensible. By proving the record true, science pronounces it divine ; for who could have correctly narrated the secrets of eternity but God himself?" Elsewhere this same professor has happily put his thought thus: "The grand old Book of God still stands ; and this old earth, the more its leaves are turned and pon- dered, the more will it sustain and illustrate the sacred Word." 126 The Bible and the Speaking of Psalm civ., Baron Hum- boldt says, " We are astonished to find in a lyrical poem of such a limited compass the whole universe the heav- ens and the earth sketched with a few bold touches. . . . This contrast and generalization in the conception of natural phenomena, and the retrospec- tion of an omnipresent invisible Power which can renew the earth, or crumble it to dust, constitute a solemn and exalted form of poetic creation." Now, must not testimony from so many authorities be respected? Of course it must. Therefore, young men, when the sceptic says to you that the teachings of science have demolished the Bible, it is your privilege with modesty, yet with firmness, to reply, Nineteenth Century. 127 "Some of the ablest scientific men of this world think otherwise, and hold the Bible in supreme admiration." It is at this point that certain mat- ters should be carefully noted. When, for instance, these Bible accounts of the creation were committed to writing, modern science had not had its dawn ; and at that time, too, the now-rejected systems and theories of ancient scien- tists were in their development, and were holding sway over the thoughts of men. How, therefore, did it happen, if there is nothing exceptional about the Bible, that, without being in the least contaminated by opinions then preva- lent, it maintained from first to last a solitary path of scientific accuracy ? You who can make estimates, judge 128 The Bible and the what are the chances, if the Bible is only an ordinary book, that Moses would have written widely different from all his contemporaries, and at the same time in harmony with that which is most recent in science ? How did it chance that the Bible reports that light was the first product of creative energy, and that man was the last; and that the creation of light, the creation of man, and the order of the intervening stages of creation as outlined by Moses, are not only not in conflict, but are in perfect harmony, with the most recent announcements of both astronomical and geological science ? Sublime are the representations as found in the original text: "In the beginning had God created the heavens Nineteenth Century. 129 and the earth. And the earth had be- come a waste and a void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep : and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the face of the water " (Gen. i. 1, 2). This language covers the geological history of the world down to the darkness and devastations of the ice and drift epochs. Then follows an account of the Mosaic days of creation (Gen. v. 1-27), in an absolutely faultless order, as typified by those vast geological periods. Whence, therefore, this accurate ac- count of the creation, which, among all the other cosmogonies of antiquity, the records and traditions of the Baby- lonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the peoples of India, the masses of China, the writings of Herodotus, 130 The Bible and the Thales, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato, Zeno, Epicurus, and other Greeks and many Romans, stands alone, chal- lenging the world's acknowledgment and admiration ? Can these facts by any thoughtful person be set aside with a sneer ? But let us pass for a few moments to the field of astronomical science. You The Bible need not be told of the dis- and astron- omy, covenes that have been made, nor of all the appliances in use for making discoveries in the stellar uni- verse. There are now telescopes of such penetrating power that by look- ing through them you can read, in a clear atmosphere, it is claimed, ordinary print twenty miles distant. And there Nineteenth Century. 131 are microscopes of such magnifying power that looking through them the edge of a razor, which is supposed to be the one-thousandth of an inch in thickness, appears, it is said, to have the breadth of three fingers on a man's hand ; while a dot so small that three of them can lie side by side across the edge of the sharpest razor, may be magnified to the size of an English shilling. There are spectroscopes, too, which can tell you, beyond question, what are the materials now in a state of combustion, not only on the sun, but on stars so remote that the comprehen- sion of their distances is impossible. Telescopes have been, and are now, everywhere busy watching and search- ing the stars; and of late the spectro- 132 The Bible and the scope, too, is lifting up to them its curious eye. The Christian believer, meanwhile, is wont to ask, " What are the results of all these explorations in the physical heavens ? Are they harm- ful to the Bible, or otherwise ? " This, at the outset, will be conceded : that if the Bible is merely like other books, and if other books of contempo- raneous date, in the light of modern investigation, are filled with erroneous astronomical statements, then we may also expect to find in the Bible similar mis-statements. But, on the other hand, if upon ex- amination it shall appear that the Bible, itest having had many things to question. ga y ag j. Q fa Q origin and build- ing of the stars and the earth, though Nineteenth Century. 133 not designed to be a special treatise upon world-building and astronomy, has escaped all the errors of the ancients; and if it is the only book of ancient date that has thus escaped; and, fur- ther, if it shall appear that the Bible harmonizes with what is established and recent in astronomical science, and is the only ancient book that does harmo- nize with recent investigations, then does it not follow that the Bible carries upon its pages incontestable evidence of a high and matchless authority and au- thorship ? What, therefore, are the facts in the case? is the question confronting us. It is well known that telescopes, microscopes, and spectroscopes have played much havoc with most of the 134 The Bible and the ancient treatises and systems of astron- omy and astrology. They have fatally smitten the astrologers of Babylon and Assyria, the shasters of India, the as- tronomy of Ptolemy, the cosmogonies of the intellectual Greeks and Romans, the partially borrowed Koran of Mo- hammed, and the speculative scientific views of nearly all the church Fathers. But it is, or ought to be, equally well known, that telescopes, microscopes, and spectroscopes have not played havoc with revelations as to these subjects found in the Bible. The conclusion, therefore, seems to be inevitable. But perhaps these points need illus- incient tration. We, therefore, first stroiogy. ca u attention, for a moment, to certain views concerning the influ- Nineteenth Century. 135 ence, or, rather, the supposed influence, of the stars upon human interests and destiny. In early times the sincerity of man's belief as to the influence of the heavenly bodies in all the affairs of life cannot be doubted. The science of astrology was the outgrowth of that faith, and is coeval with the science of astronomy. Among the most civilized of ancient nations, and especially in those periods and countries where the stars were be- lieved to have life, astrology became almost an essential part of the national character and thinking. It shared the favor of the common people, and the patronage of kings and rulers. Astrology was divided into natural and judicial. Natural astrology ob- 10 136 The Bible and the served what were the different aspects of the heavenly bodies, and decided upon the relative importance of star- appearances, and showed what natural phenomena, such as eclipses, winds, storms, earthquakes, and the like, would result from given appearances of the heavenly bodies. Judicial astrology, by the same observations, foretold what were called moral events, such as the successes and reverses, the plenties and famines, of nations and individuals. Egypt is supposed to have been the home of astrology, as it also In Egypt. was of astronomy: its sway in that country was imperial. Among the Babylonians, too, astrolo- gy was regarded, in matters of national welfare, as of primal importance. Judi- Nineteenth Century. 137 cial astrology was allowed to decide in all matters, important and unimportant. Of earlier date than the palmy In Babylon. days of the Babylonian em- pire are some of the books of Babylon on astrology, books that were extant in the days of Aristotle. In Chaldsea the sway of this science was also supreme. Astrologers formed the highest caste, and enioyed In Chalcla*. a prominent place in the royal court. No house could be built, no journey begun, no campaign under- taken, until the astrological diviners had examined the stars, and discovered the propitious time. The ancient Persians, no less than the Egyptians and Chaldaeans, also sought the supposed aid of astrology. Nothing 138 The Bible and the was done by them without consulting the stars. The iourney was In Persia. commenced, even the dress or coat was put on, only at the propi- tious astrological juncture. Thus also was it with the Arabs. They neither sowed nor In Arabia. reaped, undertook expedi- tions, nor engaged in business, without consulting the stars. Throughout Europe, too, the fascina- tions of astrology are found for cen- turies well-nigh bewitching In Europe. the people. During the thir- teenth and fourteenth centuries, astrol- ogy was taught in the universities of Italy, and professors of astrology were appointed at Padua and Bologna. Cath- erine de Medicis of France allowed no Nineteenth Century. 139 great enterprise to be undertaken with- out consulting and following the dicta- tion of the stars. During the reign of Henry III., and also that of Henry IV., astrology formed at court the engross- ing subject of ordinary conversation. And, says D'Alembert, " There is hardly an edifice in Constantinople and in all Greece that has not been erected ac- cording to the rules of apotelesmatic astrology." Such are the facts. The world was filled with these notions. It was be- lieved and taught, out of the schools and in the schools, that man's destinies were controlled by the stars ; that sue' cesses and reverses, national and indi- vidual, came at the caprice or dictation of those heavenly bodies. It was popu 140 The Bible and the lar to hold these views : it was popular to teach them. With these astrological notions the Bible writers were familiar. Those Bible men must have The Bible writers were known that their popularity familiar with these views, would have been enhanced adopted* ^ they had adopted the pre- vailing beliefs of those times. Had Moses, or David, or Isaiah, or John, or the other inspired men, intro- duced into their writings the astro- logical tables and maxims in vogue in their times, it would have given a caste and currency to their writings not otherwise attainable. Of this they must have been fully aware. There were, therefore, strong temptations to yield to these popular demands. But if they had yielded ! Indeed, how easily in Nineteenth Century. 141 those times the authority of the Bible could have been imperilled ! For as- trology, in intelligent circles, is now laughed at. Modern thought has writ- ten over its grave this epitaph : " Made up of the greatest possible amount of error, mixed with the least possible amount of truth." And, too, would not that have been the epitaph written over the Bible had it taught the astrology and astronomy which were in vogue when it was compiled and authorized ? But the fact in the case is, that, amid this condition of things extending from the days of Moses a long way past the days of John the Apostle, the Bible was not astrological. Indeed, from first to last it was emphatically anti-astro- logical. Is not this dead silence re- 142 The Bible and the specting the star-theories of those who were contemporaries with the men whc wrote the Bible, a piece of very weighty moral evidence that in its origin and composition it is not like other books ? Its voice in all these matters is modern rather than ancient? But why? is th& question requiring solution. Its teach- ings, as every reader of it knows, are uniform, and are these : Supernatural influences in national and individual aifairs are solely in the hands of an in- finite Being " who makes for righteous- ness." "Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not ; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight " (Job xxv. 2, 5), is the voice of one of the earliest writings Nineteenth Century. 143 of the Bible composed in Arabia ; and " To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen " (Jude 25), is the response that came from one of the last of the inspired writers. But let us advance a step farther. Ancient philosophers, teachers, and common people not only held Anclent erroneous views as to astrolo- * 8trononi y' gy : they were likewise much mistaken in their other astronomical opinions. The following grouping will The earth : fully establish this statement : its shape, foundation, Anaximenes hekt that the and com- earth is shaped like a table, p arid Leucippus said that it has the form of a drum ; but every child now knows that its shape is like that of an orange 144 The Bible and the or an apple. Pindar taught that the earth rests upon columns and pillars of adamant; and other ancient writers maintained that it rests upon the back of a huge tortoise, which in turn is supported upon the coils of an immense serpent. Such is its resting-place (they seem to have reasoned); for, if not, upon what does it rest ? Most men appear to have been silenced, and let it rest there. There were still other teachers, in other countries, who advanced the theory that the earth is supported upon the backs of huge elephants, the motion of whose heads causes earthquakes. Do these notions seem crude? But we must not forget that those were crude ages, in which mistakes of this kind may well be excused. Nineteenth Century. 145 Even Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle argued that the earth is a live being and that the east, whence motion commences, is the right, and the west the left hand of our world. Even Christian theologians as late as Gali- leo's time taught that the earth is sta- tionary ; and Aiigustine, 400 A. D., declared that there are no inhabitants on the nether side of it. A different view at that time was theological heresy. What would be thought of a teacher in our day, if advancing any of these views? He would not only be dismissed from his position, but his in- sanity would perhaps be argued as of an incurable type. Philolaus had a theory that the earth's destruction is to come about by the waters of the 146 The Bible and the moon being poured down upon it through a whirlpool in the atmosphere. But the probabilities are that the moon has not so much as a cupful of water with which to cloud its sky, to sa;y nothing of deluging a world. The moon in its composition, accord* ing to Pharnaces, is " wholly a mixture The moon: f a * r an( ^ Wu ^ $?'" But its eoinposi. the fftcts ape nQW weU gg^ tion, size, and distance. H s hed, that there is no at- mosphere on the moon, and, further, that its fires were extinct .thousands of ages ago, and that, therefore, it is noth- ing but a burnt-out slag. Alarchus held that the face in the moon is a reflection of the ocean upon our earth. But the outlines of that face are now known to be the shadows cast by ita Nineteenth Century. 147 lofty mountains into its own deep cav- erns. Some of the Stoics declared that the moon exceeds in magnitude the earth ; and Anaximander affirmed that it is nineteen times larger than the earth, being a circle filled with fire like the sun. But, as a matter of fact, the earth in volume exceeds the moon in the proportion of ninety to one. The shasters of India tell us that the moon is fifty thousand leagues higher up than the sun, that it animates our bodies, and shines with its own light. But the moon does not shine with its own light, and, instead of being more remote from us than the sun, is millions of miles nearer. Philolaus held that the sun is a crys- tal whose light is merely a reflection of 148 The Bible and the the light of the earth. But no one now need be told that this is false, inas- The sun : its much as the sun is a globe of character and size. fire sending its flames a hun- dred thousand miles up from its surface. As to the size of the sun, there were many conjectures. Heraclitus declared that the sun is no larger than the breadth of a man's foot. Epicurus said that he embraced all the opinions that had been held respecting the size of the sun ; namely, " the sun may be of a magnitude as it appears, or it may be somewhat greater, or somewhat less." Anaxagoras taught that the sun was made from a mass of iron somewhat larger than the Peloponnesus, and the Peloponnesus has an area of only eight thousand five hundred square miles. Nineteenth Century. 149 Anaximander was quite extravagant for his time ; claiming that the sun is twenty- eight times larger than the earth, having a circumference which resembles a hol- low chariot-wheel filled with fire. But Parmenides opposed this view, insisting that the sun is only about the size of the earth. As a matter of fact, however, the sun is not like a chariot-wheel, and in volume exceeds the earth in the pro- portion of one million four hundred thousand, to one. As to the composition of the stars, there were various conflicting opinions. Diogenes thought that the The stars. stars resemble pumice-stones, and that they are the breathings of the world. Philolaus of Crotona contended that the stars are made of crystal much 150 The Bible and the purer than diamonds. Plato thought that the stars are of a fiery nature, mixed with something resembling glue. Zenophanes taught that the stars are composed of inflamed clouds, which are kindled at night, but quenched during the day. Anaximenes said that they are fastened as nails in the crystalline firma- ment. Others, says Plutarch, taught that the stars are fiery plates of gold, re- sembling pictures. Heraclitus and some of the Stoics held that the stars depend for their illumination upon exhalations from damp places on the earth. The ancient Persians taught that the stars are the gods of the universe. By some of the philosophers Comets. in early times, it was main- tained that comets are the souls of good Nineteenth Century. 151 men on their way to heaven ; others said that they are angels escorting right- eous souls to places of rest. And sev- eral of the Pythagorean philos- The Milkj . ophers taught that the Milky Wajr> Way is an old disused path of the sun. Thus also there were differences of opinion as to the number and distances of the heavenly bodies. Some Number and distances of of the ancients thought that the stars, there are about a thousand stars. Even Hipparchus and Ptolemy never hinted at their incalculable number. Hesiod affirmed that it would take a brazen anvil nine days to pass from the stars to the earth, and nine days to go from the earth to the infernal regions. Therefore, according to this estimate, only eighteen days would be required to 11 152 The Bible and the travel the spaces occupied by the side- real heavens. But the fact is, that even light itself, moving at the rate of nearly two hundred thousand miles per second, cannot travel those sidereal spaces in a million ages. But in this review of ancient specu- lations, we must pause. As every child knows, they are utterly false. Still, as already suggested, those men must not be over-much condemned. They theo- rized as best they could with the light they had. The earth does appear to be shaped like a table ; and seemingly it must rest upon something, either pillars, tortoises, serpents, or elephants, The moon really seems farther away than the snn, and apparently shines with its own light. The sun does not Nineteenth Century. 153 seem larger than the estimates given by the ancients, and on the clearest nights the unaided eye can count only a few more than a thousand stars. The Milky Way can easily be imagined to be a disused path of the sun, and comets with their flowing robes might well be thought to be escorting angels. Now, while casting no reflections up- on ancient philosophers, we certainly have a right to ask how it Whydldnot chanced that Moses, instead Bible -" rlter make similar of limiting the stars to a statements? thousand, hints that their number is innumerable (Gen. xv. 5). How, too, did it chance that Job did not propose serpents, elephants, tortoises, or some- thing of the sort, for the earth's founda- tions ; instead of declaring, in that age 154 The Bible and the of scientific ignorance and in direct op- position to the statements and specula- tions of his time, that it is God who stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon noth- ing (Job xxvi. 7), precisely where modern science hangs it ? Or, vary the form of these questions. What if Isaiah, in his supposed inspired utterances, had said that the sun is in size equal to the Peloponnesus, that it is shaped like a chariot-wheel, and that in eighteen days a brazen anvil can pass the stellar spaces? And, if he com- posed his writings as other men com- pose theirs, why was he not liable to these or similar utterances ? Or, what if the Apostle Peter, instead of saying that fire, with great noise and melting Nineteenth Centurg. 155 elements (2 Pet. iii. 10-12), is to be, as modern science hints, " the dread communist of the universe," had said that the earth is to be destroyed by the waters of the moon poured down upon it through a whirlpool in its atmosphere ? These mistaken opinions were common talk among the people living when and where this Bible was written. What was it, therefore, that guarded its writers and compilers against introducing into it these errors, almost any one of which would now be appalling to those who regard the Bible as the word of God? Bear in mind, at this point, that these various disclosures of the Bible were placed on record at a time when even the names of some of the modern sciences had not been spoken. Chem- 156 The Bible and the istry, geology, and mineralogy were hardly born before the beginning of the nineteenth century ; and astronomy has widened immensely the fields of her conquests within the last three-quarters of a century. It is only a little over a hundred and fifty years since the Ptolemaic theory the theory that the earth is in the centre, and that the sun moves about it was taught in so respectable an insti- tution as Yale College. Any alteration, therefore, of the Greek and Hebrew text of the Bible to suit the late dis- coveries of modern science, as was for a time claimed by a few unscholarly minds, has been rendered impossible. Now, in view of all these facts, can any man, in his reason, decide that this Nineteenth Century. 157 Bible, freely referring as it does to the various phenomena of the physical uni- verse, could have escaped all these errors of ancient writers and philoso- phers, provided there were no super- natural influences controlling the minds of those who wrote and compiled it? But we have not yet completed this part of our subject. There are scien- tific thoughts in the depart- other ment of astronomy expressed in the Bible, which seem far, Bible< very far, beyond the possible ken of those who wrote them. The writer of the Book of Job speaks, for instance, of the loosing of the bands of Orion (Job xxxviii. 31). Until recently there was no intelligent interpretation for that passage. But astronomers have 158 The Bible and the discovered of late the almost startling fact, that our planetary system is slowly drifting away from the constellation in which Orion is chief. Does some one reply that this Bible expression is merely a poetic fancy ? Admit it. But what explanation can be given for the wonderful scientific accuracy of such a poetic fancy ? Why were not Homer and Virgil equally correct in their fancies? This same Bible-writer also speaks of an empty place in the north (Job xxvi. 7). Poetic, is it said? Doubtless it is poetic, and perhaps the writer did not understand the full im- port of his words : but what is singular is the fact, that this expression, written in an age when errors in science every- where prevailed, is, in the light of mod- Nineteenth Century. ern discovery, a marvel of scientific accuracy ; for modern astronomers now tell us that the only space in the stellar heavens of our hemisphere where the telescope can discover no stars is not east or west, but north. In view of these and many other Scriptural statements, need there be any surprise that the illustrious astrono- mer Sir John Herschel was led, in the rapture of his admiration for the Bible, to exclaim, " All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths contained in the Holy Scrip- tures " ? And it is our own late and honored astronomer, Gen. O. M. Mitchel, who after passing in imagination beyond 160 The Bible and the suns and systems towering on the right hand and on the left, and with thoughts expanded and aglow with sublimities, and struggling for expression, in a pas- sage of rare beauty, exclaims, " Let us turn to the language of the Bible : it furnishes the only fitting vehicle to express the thoughts which overwhelm us, and we break out involuntarily in the language of God's own inspiration, ' Have ye not known, hath it not been told 3*ou from the beginning, have 3*6 not understood from the foundation of the earth? It is he who sitteth upon the circle of the earth, that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Lift up your eyes on high, and be- hold who hath created all these things, Nineteenth Century, 161 that bringeth out their host by number? It is he who meted out the heavens with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in balances. It is he who stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon noth- ing. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens. He telleth the number of the stars. He calleth them all by their names. He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars. He bindeth the sweet influences of the Pleiades, and looseth the bands of Orion. He bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his season, and guideth Arcturus with his sons. Lo ! these are a part of his ways ; but the thunder of his power, 162 The Bible and the who can understand?" We do not hesitate to say that these closing sen- tences quoted from the Book of Job, in scientific accuracy and in poetic graad- eur, even under the intense blaze of the culture and civilization of the nine- teenth century, are unequalled by any page from the pen of any sceptic who has ever assailed the blessed Book, and will survive when every thing scepticism has produced which is not in harmony with its revelations shall have sunk forever into the depths of oblivion. What remains to be said may be classed under morality and religion. We have reserved these topics for the last, because there is no question that Nineteenth Century. 163 the Bible in its entirety is designed chiefly to teach religion, and that in some of its parts its chief de- its morals sign is to teach morality, and religion. Hence, if in these matters of morality and religion the Bible standard is not high and royal, even superior to all else found in ancient literature, we may well question its authority, and its claims of having been written and compiled by men who in their work were controlled by supernatural influences. Comparisons between the teachings of the Bible and those of other ancient literature, upon the subject of morals, first claim atten- tion. We presume at the other ancient outset that no intelligent per- literature. son will question this statement, that if 164 The Bible and the some of the sayings of the great men of antiquity such men as Zeno, Aris- totle, Quintilian, and even Plato were put in practice, society would be robbed of its moral safeguards, and be led into speedy and universal mischiefs. Nor can any one doubt, that if the immoralities practised by the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and by the peoples of India and China, and by those dwelling in Western Europe prior to the advent of Christianity, immoralities in some in- stances authorized by law and recom- mended by the distinguished teachers of the people, were in our Republic sanc- tioned by law or by the customs of so- ciety, there would be an end to chastity, homes would be robbed of their charms, and our country be no longer fit to live in. Nineteenth Century. 165 We do not say that all the maxims and teachings of all those distinguished men were of this degrading and danger- ous character. There are, in the writ- ings of some of those men, noble sayings that commend themselves to modern thought ; some, indeed, which are in every way superior to the teachings of certain noted men who have enjoyed the blessings of the highest recent civili- zation. Those ancient so-called Pagan hunters after truth found data in their consciousness to which, in many in- stances, they were faithful : they gleaned some facts from observation, and not a few thoughts from the religious writings of the Israelites both before and after those writings were compiled into the Bible, thoughts which were recast, 106 The Bible and the and have since passed, in more than one instance, for gems of originality in Pagan literature. This is, perhaps, especially true of many of the sayings of Seneca and Epictetus, who, though they may not have seen and conversed with either of the apostles, could not have failed of deriving ethical notions, at least indirectly, from Christian sources. Seneca was Nero's tutor, and prime minister at the emperor's court ; and Epictetus was a slave of a prominent freedman of the empire. It is, there- fore, highly improbable that they were not at times brought under the "word-fall of Christian lips." But not- withstanding all these excellences, ori- ginal and borrowed, ancient writers upon ethical subjects were as a rule, Nineteenth Century. 167 and in a high degree, defective. In- deed, we may safely say, that, if a few of the many false teachings found in the best ancient classical literature had been introduced into the Bible, there would be forever, in questions of moral life and character, an end to its authority. We are not unacquainted with a re- cent claim that has been urged, namely, that the morality of some unfTorabie Pagan countries is, in cer- critlcisills - tain respects, superior to that of Chris- tian countries. Japan, for instance, is referred to as comparing favorably with countries under the sway of Bible mo- rality. We freely confess that much which has been said upon this subject has truth in it. But this is the countei 12 168 The Bible and the claim, that if the morals of Japan in certain respects are superior to those, for instance, of England, it will be found that in those very respects Japan is more biblical than is England. The Bible, even in these instances, is recog- nized as the standard authority. We are aware, too, that now and then a person is found who affirms, out and out, that biblical as well as Pagan morality tends to immorality. This charge is always, or nearly always, based upon the ground that certain corrupt practices are, "with no prudent reticence," brought to our notice in the Bible. It is true that the Bible uses great plainness of speech, and conceals noth- ing. The Oid Testanjeftt does not pr_e- Nineteenth Century. 169 tend to be " an idyl of innocence : " it is rather an illustrated demonstration of what the sins of humanity are, and of the direful consequences of sin. There- fore it speaks of men as it finds them. If they have faults, it faithfully de- scribes them. How could its designs be accomplished without doing this? If the instructions of the Bible had been given in the abstract rather than in the concrete, and if all the characters portrayed in the Bible had been repre- sented as spotless ; if Abraham had never falsified, if Jacob had never de- ceived, if David had never sinned, if Solomon had never acted unwisely, and if Peter had not denied his Master ; in a word, if Bible men, in a general way, had been represented as having no im- 170 The Bible and the perfections, then how much less for- cible would be Bible instructions, and how great would be the outcry from the infidel world ! It would be forth- with announced that Bible history is a fiction, and not a fact. This, however, must ever be kept in mind: that the Bible never for an in- stant, by sentence, word, or intimation, approves any form of immorality re- corded upon its pages. When the patri- archs transgressed, God in every in- stance reproved or punished them. " The thing which David did was dis- pleasing to the Lord," is the entire drift of its rebuke of sin and iniquity. We are also aware that it is some- times argued, in modern times, that the rigorous measures enjoined in the Bible Nineteenth Century. against the people of Canaan, upon the return of the Israelites from The rigorous -r, ,, . , . measures Egypt, are in their moral m- enjoined in fluence harmful; that they the I Bi ! )1 l * against the " make out God to be a very cnanites. monster of cruelty ; " that, as to this feature, the Old Testament is at war with the New. In passing judgment upon these mat- ters, one thing must not be overlooked ; namely, that God builds for all time, for eternity. Our range of vision, therefore, if we become self-appointed judges, must not be narrow. If our views are not captious, and are as broad as the subject demands, we shall easily discover that the spirit of the Old Testament is not, as some persons seem to think, entirely unlike that of 172 The Bible and the the New. The severest denunciations found in the Bible are from the lips of Christ (Matt, xxiii. 13-33). We shall also make the discovery, that the Divine method as seen in the Bible is the same as is discovered in providence ; and is therefore to be jus- tified upon the ground of necessity in the nature of things, or possibly in view of the attainment of a greater good. There is an old saying, rough but forcible, which reads thus : " God himself must be strong as well as good, or the Devil will shortly have the upper hand." The one attribute of good-naturedness can never constitute a God ; at least, does not constitute the God whom creation and providence as well as the Bible reveal. Nineteenth Century. 173 That great law of science, the sur- vival of the fittest, though often mis- applied in modern philosophy, is simply an expression of what the Infinite Being is disposed to do, and has been doing through the ages. That law will for- ever stamp its approval upon the com- mand of Jehovah to Joshua to destroy the unfit, savage, and murderous Ca- naanites, who, but for their extirpation, would have destroyed the Israelites, to whom, as it appears, had been intrusted the truths upon which is based the relr- gious civilization of the world. The methods resorted to for their destruction needed also to be such as to strike terror to the hearts of all the surrounding tribes. The point of view occupied by Tennyson when he wrote the following 174 The Bible and the words is the one to be taken whil judging of the rigorous measures rec ommended in the Old Testament: "'So careful of the type ? ' but no. From scarped cliff and quarried stone, She cries, ' A thousand types are gone : I care for nothing, all shall go.' " If, therefore, the ways of Providence, in building the "scarped cliff" and the "quarried stone," care nothing for the species or even for the genus, how much less care shall there be for the Amorite and the Hittite when standing in the way of building for the world a uni- versal civilization and religion ? " But," some one asks, " shall evil be done, that good may come ? " Yes, so far as this question is justified in the matter before us. Implacable enemies Nineteenth Century. 176 of righteousness, even at any cost, are to be prevented from carrying out their wicked designs and from hindering progress. It is this principle that leads modern society to build prisons, and put men into them ; to erect a gallows, and hang men upon it. Such prevention and death are no evil : they are rather an exalted good and mercy working in behalf of the well-disposed. The imprecations in some of the Psalms of David are also said not to breathe the spirit of the Gos- impreca- tions In the pel, and to be harmful in Psalms. their moral influence. No one, unless his range of view is narrow, would pass such a judgment. A careful study of the character of David and of the so- called harsh Psalms will disclose the 176 The Bible and the fact that in no instance is vengeance jailed down upon personal enemies. The imprecations are uttered solely against seditious spirits and public foes. David was forgiving and mag- nanimous to his personal enemies; no king or commander ever more so. In some instances he mourned over the death and misfortunes of his enemies as if they had been those of a friend. The entire spirit of David's administra- tion shows, too, that in his war upon the cruel and outlawed Amorites, and in his advice to Solomon as to Shimei and Joab, he was not prompted by per- sonal vindictiveness, but by considera- tions of public safety. The case of Joab may be taken as illustrative of this statement. Joab was Nineteenth Century. 177 a nephew of David. He was a bold soldier, and in his successes was the Marlborough of the Jewish Data's com- mand to exe- ^mpire. But his disposition enteJoab. was thoroughly bad. His spirit of re- venge was implacable. He treach- erously, and out of pure revenge, assassinated Abner. He also treach- erously murdered Amasa. With ap- parently a friendly whisper upon his lips, he had killed the one of these two men ; and the other, while imparting a kiss upon the cheek of his victim at the very moment of assassination. Joab was not only sly and malignant, but he was bold. He was brave, he was de- fiant. He could almost say with the great politician in the time of Edward II., " I can make and unmake kings." 178 The Bille and the Though for the most part obedient in times of war, David foresaw that this wild, ambitious, restless, implaca- ble, and revengeful spirit would be ut- terly unsafe in times of peace. Upon the ground, therefore, of political expe- diency, David enjoined upon the young king the arrest and execution of this dangerous man. But aside from the records of the falls and crimes of certain illustrious Bible men, whose chastisements and poignant repentances are likewise re- corded, and aside from some of these The Bible the rigorous measures* rendered necessary upon the grounds science. o f political and military ne- cessity, not one word can be spoken against Bible morality. It is the great Nineteenth Century. 179 text-book upon moral science. The profoundest modern moral philosophers never think of deviating from its teach- ing. Matthew Arnold states the case forcibly : "Try all the ways to righteousness you can think of, and you will find that no way brings you to it except the way of Jesus. . . . Attempt to do with- out Israel's God that makes for right- eousness, and you will find out your mistake ! . . . Attempt to reach right- eousness by any way except that of Jesus, and you will also find out your mistake ! This is a thing that can prove itself if it is so, and it will prove itself because it is so." And, too, the uncompromising and Bolemn manner in which the Bible 180 The Bible and the always enforces its claims of morality is in many respects exceptional in the world's literature. " Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor re- vilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10); and, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and right- eousness from the God of his Nineteenth Century. 181 tion " (Ps. xxiv. 3-5), are words never heard until spoken and written by Bible men. At this point, advocates of Bible morality are met by a somewhat unex- pected cross-fire ; that is, a objection! few persons readily admit- ^MMe"** 1 ting that in many respects moralIt J r ' the character of Bible morality is excep- tional, have, upon this very ground, pronounced against it. With Aristotle (who must have spoken in an unguard- ed moment) they say, " When you can have a good thing, take it ; " and with the Spartans they will add, "Be sure you are not found out." With Quin- tilian (who also must have spoken in an unguarded moment) they say, " Trutlj, though generally, is not always 182 The Bible and the defended." With David Hume they rea- son, that though adultery is condemned in the Bible, it must be practised if men would obtain the highest advantages of human life. And with Mr. Buckle they reason, that so-called crimes are a part of the fixed course of nature, as really so, though not so apparently, as the ebb and flow of the tides; that cer- tain natural causes, acting upon men as surely as the moon upon the ocean, produce in them certain conditions, from which some particular form of crime is the invariable result ; that men are, therefore, not responsible for the crimes they commit. We cannot, of course, reason much with such foes of morality and chastity : we can only appeal to the common- Nineteenth Century. 183 sense of the great mass of the best peo- ple in our best communities, who hold these lax and unscriptural views of morals in utter detestation ; and to the world's history, whose pages are a sol- emn warning against any departure from the Bible standard of ethical eon- duct. Take, for example, the times fol- lowing the restoration of Charles II. In the re-action from Puri- Results of n .. ,1 i f abandonment tan austerity, the morals of of Blble mo . Christianity were discarded. The results are too well Franc ' known to justify a full rehearsal. A word only is necessary. " Then," says the historian, " came those days, never to be recalled without shame ; the days of servitude without loyalty, and sensu- 13 184 The Bible and the ality without love, of dwarfish talents and gigantic vices ; the paradise of cold hearts and narrow minds ; the golden age of the coward, the bigot, and the slave." In France,- too, in a re-action against priestcraft, the altars of Christianity were demolished, and Bible morality was despised. The results are well known. Then followed the "carnival of crime " and " reign of terror." " We are the only people in the world," writes a journalist of that time, "who ever attempted to do without religion. But what is already our sad experience? Every tenth day [the sabbath of the infidels] we are as- tounded by the recital of more crimes and assassinations than were committed Nineteenth Century. 185 formerly in a whole year. At the risk of speaking an obsolete language, and receiving insult for response, we de- clare that we must cease striving to destroy the remnants of religion, if we desire to prevent the entire dissolution of society." Disraeli, after making a broad survey of peoples and countries, reaches a con- clusion which is thus stated : " It will be observed that the decline and disasters in modern communities have generally been relative to their degree of sedition against the Semitic (the Old-Testament) principle. Eng- land, notwithstanding her deficient and meagre theology, has always remem- bered Zion. The great trans-Atlantic Republic, the United States of America, 186 The Bible and the is intensely Semitic, and has prospered accordingly." It is in view of a solid array of facts, that even sceptics who are intelligent Bible moral, and not corrupt hail the Bible as the beacon-light of In some ^ respects sceptics. words of commendation of the moral purity and superiority of the Bible have been spoken than those which have fallen from the lips of Na- poleon, Rousseau, Diderot, Goethe, Huxley, and Theodore Parker. Says : Professor Huxley, in an address upon education, " I have always been strongly in favor of secular education, in the sense of education without the- ology; but I must confess, I have been no less seriously perplexed to know by Nineteenth Century. 187 what practical measures the religious feeling, which is the essential basis of conduct, was to be kept up, in the pres- ent utterly chaotic state of opinion on these matters, without the use of the Bible. The Pagan moralists lack life and color ; and even the noble Stoic, Marcus Antoninus, is too high and re- fined for an ordinary child. Take the Bible as a whole ; make the severest de- ductions which fair criticism can dictate : and there still remains in this old litera- ture a vast residuum of moral beauty and grandeur. By the study of what other book could children be so much humanized ? If Bible-reading is not ac- companied by constraint and solemnity, I do not believe there is any thing in which children take more pleasure." 188 The Bible and the Would not those who object to Bible morality do well carefully to weigh these words, coming from such an im- partial witness as Professor Huxley ? The fact is, that, in spite of all the small talk of sceptics, the lustre of Bible morality in the nineteenth cen- tury remains undimmed. Far, far above the fogs and mists with which immoral men and women, English free- thinkers, German free-livers, and Ameri- can free-lovers, have sought to fill the sky, Bible morality stands unrebuked and unchallenged ; indeed, it never stood out so perfectly clear, serene, and triumphant as at this very day. At this point, the substance of the question repeatedly asked recurs, and is this : How did it chance that Bible- Nineteenth Century. 189 writers who belonged to a "petty, un- successful, unaniiable people, without politics, without science, sun another important without art, without charm, question, and who lived in times and among com- munities which were ruled by immoral precepts and steeped in moral corrup- tions, produced and preserved a compre- hensive code of morals so faultless and universal that it can be practised by all nations, and upon which modern im- provement seems impossible? Has any explanation yet been given at all comparable with that claimed by the writers themselves, that they were aided, controlled, "borne along," by an agency supernatural and divine ? (Exod. iv. 15, 16 ; Ezek. iii. 4-10 ; John xvi. 13,14; Gal. i. 12; Rev. i. 10.) 190 The Bible and the Theological and religious truth is the last department of knowledge to which in this treatise attention is invited. The reign of the Bible, especially in the realms of theology, is supreme. It is The Bible *^ e basis f a ^ modern theol- aiid theology. O gj es . ft j s mo dern theology. Without the Bible, our knowledge of God seemingly would be almost total darkness. The Bible, in the field of pure and correct theological science, is the pioneer, the explorer, the beginning, the end. Since the days of John the Apostle, there has been revealed to the race, in the field of pure theological truth, not a particle of new subject-mat- ter. Modern thought has discovered not one additional attribute in the Divine nature ; we know not a syllable Nineteenth Century. 191 more respecting the end of the world, the coming of Christ, or of the final judgment, of the dead, of angels, of demons, of heaven and of hell, than was revealed in the Bible when it was completed, sanctioned, and committed to the Christian Church. The apostles knew as fully as do people of the nine- teenth century, dwelling in the most enlightened countries on earth, what are men's relations and obligations to God and to one another; and it is the knowledge of these relations which constitutes the basis of all morality and religion as well as theology. Modern science and philosophy, in the last eighteen hundred years, have, it is true, confirmed, and in some in- stances have made more vivid, many 192 The Bible and the theological truths ; archaeology has cleared away many difficulties : but, we repeat, science, philosophy, firms Bible 1.1 j n ,1 theology, but archaeology, and all the cor- related sciences, have added new. no t; one neur fundamental truth to our theological knowledge, and have changed nothing. Other Bible truths, no doubt, will be more fully confirmed, or better illus- trated ; other difficulties, doubtless, will be cleared away : but to the theology of the Bible, judging from the past, there will henceforth be nothing essentially new or different added, and what may be, perchance, for a time taken away by venturesome theologians will after- wards have to be fully restored. In a word, the writers of the Bible Nineteenth Century. 193 advanced so far into the field of pure theology, and revealed so much, that, from the nature of the case, theology cannot discover an essentially new truth, and cannot in this repect be a progressive science. The theology of the Bible came from the hand of God as the beautiful flowers come, complete. Science may name one part of the flower the filament, another part the anther, other parts the ovary, the style, and the stigma ; but this nomenclature contrib- utes nothing either to the perfection or to the beauty of the flower. Such, too, is Bible theology. There is a bare pos- sibility that theological nomenclature may be modified and be made more ex- act; but modern skill and wisdom can, in these matters, go no farther. We 194 The Bible and the say bare possibility ; for it is question- able if modern thought shall henceforth be able essentially to modify that expo- sition and expression of Bible truth which during the last eighteen hun- dred years have been thought and spoken by the average Christian con- sciousness of the world. In many respects, too, how radically exceptional is Bible theolog}' ! Other ancient theologies are half - truths : Bible theology, according to the best modern estimates, is the truth. Other theologies, even the best of them, are mixed with crudities, vagaries, and even vulgarities of the lowest sort: Bible theology is generally acknowledged to be pure, inspiring, and ennobling. The same essentially is true of the Nineteenth Century. 195 religion of the Bible. "The grand peculiarity of the religion of the Scrip- tures," as President Woolsey and religions says, "is that it is intensely truth. moral and elevating." The only reli- gion of antiquity which "knows no compromise with sin, no pardon to this destroyer of mankind and its develop- ment, only deadly, deadly earnest com- bat till complete victory is gained," is that found in the Old and New Testa- ment Scriptures. Biblical religion, too, is the only one, ancient or modern, which " does not allow itself to be dazzled by a brilliant partial culture ; but looks with calm, clear eye at the death-germ concealed in the soul, and says decidedly and earnestly, * Ye must be born again,' and then adds, 'Ye can 196 Tlie Bible and the be born again,' and actually and truly provides the means whereby man and human society may be delivered from the dominion of the power inimical to culture, and thoroughly renewed." Thus also in practical philanthropy the other religions of the world, as com- pared with that of the Bible, Bible religion originated show to the poorest advan- practical phiian. tage. Not at Athens or Rome, the high places of civilization, of political wisdom and power, the chosen abodes of philosophy, eloquence, poetry, and artistic skill, are to be found such institutions as charity hospitals and asylums. The first hos- pital known in the world unless an exception be made in case of a small Nineteenth Century. 197 temple of Esculapius on an island in the Tiber, where the maimed and sick were brought to be experimented upon, and then "left to struggle in solitude, or the pangs of death " was built at Constantinople by a Christian bishop of that city. The dispensaries, convales- cent-homes, reformatories, alms-houses, orphanages ; asylums for the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the idiot, the insane, the inebriate ; the refuges for the fallen ; and other agencies for overtaking and alleviating the thousand ills of human life, are : the outgrowth of Bible reli- gion. " The outgrowth of modern civ- ilization," does some one say ? But, as already seen, the referring of these phi- lanthropies to modern civilization does not discharge their obligation to the 198 The Bible and the Bible ; for modern civilization was ren- dered possible only through Bible faith and practice. As Judge Sir Allen Par- ker, at a public meeting in London, once said, " We live in the midst of blessings till we are utterly insensible of the source from which they flow. We speak of our civilization, our arts, our freedom, our laws, and forget entirely how large a share is due to Christianity. Blot it out of the pages of man's history, and what would his laws have been ? what his civilization ? Christianity is mixed up with our very being and our daily life. There is not a familiar object around us which does not wear a differ- ent aspect because the light of Chris- tian love is on it ; not a law which does not owe its truth and gentleness Nineteenth Century. 199 to Christianity ; not a custom which cannot be traced in all its holy, health- felt parts to the gospel." Think, too, how adequate is the reli- gion of the Bible. There are to-day, it is estimated, one billion B ihie souls on earth. And yet the al1 Bible, if its conditions are complied with, is abundantly able to meet all the religious wants of all these millions. And it is the only book that can do this. It is the only book that attempts to explain to all their true relation to God and eternity. It is the only book that furnishes the prayer, the confi- dence, and the joy needed by the little child and the gray-haired man, the slave and the king. It is the only 14 200 The Bible and the book that equally satisfies the man working in coal-pits or sweeping street- crossings, and such men as Francis Bacon, John Herschel, Michael Fara- day, and David Brewster. It instructs, and then wounds or heals, condemns or acquits, every man, woman, and child on earth. Wonderful book! But the question now confronts us : Why did not some of the philosophers f Wh, did not some of the Babylon, Greece, or Rome, philosophers of the ancient who figured during the same world invent . , , . a uniTereai a g es that witnessed the writ- ing and compilation of the Bible give the world books which in their theological and religious teachings might equal or even approach the Bible ? In a human point of view, those noted Nineteenth Century. 201 men of antiquity had the same sources of information that were available to the Hebrew prophets and New-Testament evangelists ; and they had, in many re- spects, even superior advantages : why, therefore, did they not make discover- ies equally valuable, and furnish data equally full and correct upon which to base theological science? How chanced it that those Hebrews alone rose in theological and religious knowledge not only above all their contemporaries, but so far as also to stand in advance of the best thinkers even in modern times ? The wisest men of the present century confess that they have not yet been able fully even to explore the profundity of Bible teaching, and that any improvement upon those subjects 202 The Bible and the which the Bible was designed espe- cially to teach and settle is out of the question. Now, what is or what can be the explanation of this extraordi- nary scope and sweep of vision, and this grasp of theological and religious knowledge ? If Bible men were moved by a superior wisdom to write as they did, then the involved enigma is solved : otherwise does it not remain unsolved and apparently insoluble ? When, therefore, we ponder, as we ought, the teachings of the Bible ; as Concindtag we think of the accuracy of words - the Bible in departments of knowledge which in this treatise we have hardly touched upon, history, chronology, ethnology, and archaeology ; when we take under review the entire Nineteenth Century. 203 field over which, in these pages, we have tried to pass; when we note the differ- ences, in so many respects, between this book and nearly all other ancient litera- ture ; as we trace the harmonies between its revelations and the most recent dis- coveries and facts of modern research : what shall be said of the narrowness, determined blindness, and wilful mis- representations of men who continue to rank its revelations with the myths of Egypt and Babylon, of Greece and Rome? In view, therefore, of what the Bible is and of what it has done, need there be any surprise that a wide-spread con- viction, which is more and more to deepen, has taken possession of the best minds in modern times, that noth- 204 The Bible and the ing of so much value as the Bible has yet appeared in the majestic evolution of this world's history, except the One who is the chief glory of all its pages, Christ the Saviour and the King ? Need there be any hesitation in say- ing, if we may judge by the past, that after the philosophies and the sciences shall have run their small or mighty rounds of investigation, and after men of the broadest culture shall have re- turned from their most daring explora- tions, in the heavens above and in the earth beneath, even then the Bible will be found by curious hints or by ex- plicit statements to have anticipated, or at least to be in harmony with, their grandest discoveries ? Marvellous Book, thy conquest shall yet be complete ! Nineteenth Century. 205 But, among all these considerations, let no one be disregardful of the fact that it is this same Bible, wondrously correct in its revelations, which speaks of an endless life for all, of joy un- speakable for the righteous, of anguish unmitigated for the unrighteous, and of an atonement for those who comply with its sacred conditions. If, there- fore, these solemn announcements as to death and the judgment, heaven and hell, which, from the nature of the case, can never in this world be disproved, shall at the end of things be found true, how, in that unexplored hereafter, will stand affairs with each one who now closes the perusal of these pages? 5\\ TG, THE LIBRARY IVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara HIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 000 995 230