SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES, - ICOTB · SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 15 Scriptures from the world, and leaves nothing in their place. The effect of these things, is most inju-rious. Those

THE

TRUE M E T H O D

OF

SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES,

BY

TALBOT FANNING,PRESIDENT OF FRANKLIN COLLEGE.

CINCINNATI:AMERICANCHRISTIANPUBLICATIONSOCIETY,

1854.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by

AMERICAN CHRISTIAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Ohio.

TRUE METHOD

OF

SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES.

SUGGESTIVE THOUGHTS.

IN the brief race of life, we all start fromthe same point. We enter the world uncon-scious of our origin, of our very existence,and of the objects which surround us; andprofoundly ignorant of the dark and drearyfuture, which spreads out before us. Wediffer through life in our information, in thepart we play in life's drama; and we shallfinally differ in the world to come; yet allour differences, to a greater or less extent,depend upon our own exertions. The wisestand best of men become so, by continuallabor; while the corrupt and degraded,reap only the reward of their own wickedlives. In our jail and penitentiary reports,we see clearly that, crime most abounds in

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the hands of ignorance; and while we mustadmit that, the drunken, profane, and vileof all climes, from their mistakes in theobjects of life, bring upon themselves theirdeepest misery, we are led to ask ourselvesthe profound question, Why do mortals ofearth, sin against God, their Creator andkind Preserver? Solomon has answeredthe question: "The way of the wicked,"said he, "is as darkness; they know not atwhat they stumble." "Darkness," indeed,"has covered the earth, and gross darknessthe people." "The blind lead the blind,and both fall into the ditch together."

No one can walk in the light, who has itnot; and if correct moral conduct, spiritualprogress, and eternal life, at the end of ourearthly journey, depend in the least, uponthe quality and amount of our moral light,the study of life should be, to gain trueknowledge. It is a singular truth that,men often become quite wise in the affairsof this world, who, nevertheless, remainchildren in the things that pertain to God;and it is still more strange that, there arelarge funds of false wisdom, which close the

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mind and heart to the true fountain, whichis able to enlighten every man that comesinto the world. The question, "What shallit profit a man if he gain the whole worldand lose his own soul?" is not more appro-priate than to ask, "What shall it profit us,though we acquire all the knowledge theworld can furnish, and Yet fail to gain'The true light' which comes from above,and which alone can give assurance of'That rest which remains for the people ofGod.'"

PART FIRST.

THE TRUE ORIGIN OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD,

AND OUR DUTIES TO HIM.

INASMUCH as men, for nearly six thou-sand years, have become virtuous and happy,in the exact ratio of their knowledge of theirCreator, and his will concerning them, it isa question of very deep interest to ascertainthe proper mode of acquiring this inesti-mable information. There are three ways,in which it is supposed this knowledge isgained; yet, there can be but one correctsource of Divine wisdom. These demand abrief, yet careful examination, at our hands.

FIRST. It is supposed that Nature af-fords full information concerning ourFather who is in heaven.

The word Nature is employed; first, todenote the outward world—the heavens withtheir starry hosts, and the earth, with herten thousand tongues; and, secondly, it is

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used to express the supposed world of spon-taneous light within—that which is ima-gined to be natural to the soul.

"Wise men, in the different ages of theworld, and even christian philosophers, havemaintained that, the study of external naturenot only affords correct knowledge with re-gard to the invisible God, but also, fur-nishes all needful information relative to ourduties to our Creator, and to each other. Itwould be proper to state, in reply, that natureis not a bridge from the visible to the invisi-ble world. The dull matter of the heavensand the earth, with their whole machinery, isinsufficient to suggest either the existence orperfections of that God who is Spirit. Theleap from the visible to the invisible, is notonly too great for the philosophy of man,but it is also far above his loftiest imagina-tion. A few plain reasons will justify theseconclusions.

When man was first created, his Fatherand his God, though invisible to us, spoketo him face to face; and it is unreasonableto suppose, that his posterity could entirelylose such information. We, moreover, have

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heard of no nation acknowledging God,whose information cannot be traced todirect communications, which are as highabove nature as God is above man.

Were we to admit that, nature revealsspiritual light, we would be compelled tomaintain the sufficiency of this light, toguide us in the path of life.

But facts contradict such a conclusion.They show that those who have been with-out the Bible, though wise in the things ofthe world, have known but little of Godor his ways, and this little, can be clearlytraced to a source different from nature.

When we look into the Scriptures, we findthe whole theory contradicted. We aretold, "The world by wisdom," philosophy,or the study of nature, "knew not God.""It pleased God, by the foolishness ofpreaching to save them that believe."

To the enlightened, we rejoice to believe,that, the heavens and the earth, beautifully"declare," impress and confirm, "the gloryof God;" but as previously urged, they haveno voice to tell of the unseen hand whichlaunched them forth.


Those who plead for the inborn light ofthe soul, to reveal the person and power ofour Heavenly Father, must, to be consist-ent, also maintain the competency of thislight, "To lighten every man that comesinto the world." Many do so, and furtherassert, in the style of an old philosopher,that, "This soul of ours, is the divinitywithin," and is able to guide us into alltruth.

Some go even further than this; and tellus, that the soul is either God, or a part ofGod, and its immortality is its own natural"outgrowth." This theory may seem pret-ty; but it is not only deceptious, but mostdangerous. When we place our highestknowledge in human nature, and declarethat eternal happiness, is the legitimate andnecessary offspring of the soul, we denythat this wisdom comes through the Bible,and much worse, we virtually say, that re-demption is not by Christ, and that he didnot really "Bring life and immortality tolight in the Gospel." To such, there is nomeaning in the death of Christ, and the Bibleis worse than a useless book. Indeed, we

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are sorry to admit, that most, if not all thisclass of teachers, deny that the Scripturesreally reveal anything. It is not unchari-table to pronounce them, a sect of deceitfuland dangerous speculators.

This pernicious system is now prevailingin Germany, under the head of "Transcen-dentalism," and wherever it gains footing,God's blessed word is crushed before it.

In France, it speaks out in what is deno-minated "Social Philosophy." It rejects,everywhere, the authority of the "Writtenoracles," and calls these pranks before highHeaven, "struggles for liberty;" and evenconceals the deadly poison beneath, bythrowing over it the mantle of "Charity."

But more need not be said to give theyoung or old reader, disposed to think, anddraw conclusions, a pretty comprehensiveidea of the system which claims Nature as asufficient rule in morality and spirituality.

SECOND. Many zealous religionists main-tain that, all the light from the unseenworld, comes in direct revelation of thespirit to each individual.


Quakers, Shakers, and Mormons, withequal zeal and apparent sincerity, flood theworld with their contradictory revelations ofthe spirit, and to doubt their truth is, in theirestimation, to doubt all spiritual religion.

Spiritual Knockers, tell us that, they re-ceive their information from the invisibleworld, through the ghosts of the departeddead, and a single doubt as to the verity ofthese new dreams is pronounced illiberality,and uncharitableness; and those who daredo so, are charged with the sin of "opposi-tion to all progress."

The thousands of "seekers of religion"or revelations of forgiveness of sins andacceptance with God, in the divers altars,at the mourner's bench, anxious seat, or inthe silent grove, profess to receive directrevelations, and witnesses of the spirit, inimpulses, feelings, still small voices, andvarious other ways, too tedious and revolt-ing to mention. Those who hesitate toadmit the truth of these revival revelations,subject themselves to the severe charge ofdenying all spiritual light and holy influ-ence.

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All these, either receive the direct revela-tions of the spirit, or they do not. They getpositive light, or they get nothing. Thereis no compromise in the matter. Thosewho profess to receive light in these ways,either experience what they profess, or theyare mistaken in their conclusions, and arebewildered in their whole religion.

It might be well to take a bird's-eye view,of the works of these singular systems ofSpiritualism.

Is it not a startling truth that, persons in-clined to such influence, much prefer theirdirect revelations, perhaps while asleep, orin answer to their prayers, to the writtendeclarations of the Bible? How could it beotherwise? Who, that could obtain freshrevelations, would be satisfied to labor andtoil for the knowledge of God, in the Bible?Indeed, we may justly conclude, as we werecompelled to do, in reference to the insuffi-ciency of Nature to reveal the unseen, thatwhen we admit direct and perpetual revela-tions of the spirit, there is no place or workleft on earth for the precious Bible. Thus,direct Spiritualism, banishes the sacred


Scriptures from the world, and leavesnothing in their place.

The effect of these things, is most inju-rious. Those under their influence, are byno means in a condition to read, hear, orbelieve the word of God.' They are directedby feelings, which they tell us, "make themhappy," and they desire nothing beyond.If this were the condition of the ignorantslave, we might entertain strong hopes, thatthe intelligence of the times, would banishit from our world, but it is seen in highplaces,—among the learned and influential.It is said, extremes oft meet; and it issomewhat singular that, zealous religionistsare not the only persons who advocate therevelations of feelings. Many church mem-bers mean nothing more by the direct wit-ness of the spirit, than a hopeful feelingwithin that God has accepted them in theBeloved. Some who trust to human natureas a guide, profess to walk by a similarinward light of feeling. We are stronglyinclined to the opinion that, such personsmust follow in part, if not altogether, theinclinations of their own fleshy desires and

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fickle passions. It is well known that, thecelebrated infidels, Voltaire and Helvetius,advocated the unlimited gratification of theirfleshy appetites. The famous scoffer Rous-seau, who, according to his own printedreports, was a thief, a falsifier, and a profli-gate, had recourse to feeling as his standardof morality.

"I have only to consult myself," said he,"concerning what I do. All I feel to beright, is right; what I feel to be wrong, iswrong. All the morality of our actions liesin the judgment we ourselves form of them.The tendency of the philosophy, learningand religion of the age, is to make aninfallible spiritual standard of each one'spassions, desires and feelings. The chari-table doctrine in most of the churches is,what each thinks and feels in his own con-science to be right, is right to him."

Men, of course, who preach this, must bepopular; such flattery of the flesh, couldbut delight the sensual. These men gravelypronounce opposition to these sentiments,"dogmatism, popery, and tyranny;" andboldly deny that, there is a written standard


in religion. The Apostle Peter very strik-ingly describes them thus:

"There are wells without water, cloudsthat are carried with the tempest; to whomthe mist of darkness is reserved forever.For when they speak great swelling wordsof vanity, they allure through the lusts ofthe flesh, through much wantonness, thosethat were clean escaped from them wholive in error. "While they promise themliberty, they themselves are the servants ofcorruption."

But the reader need not be further de-tained, in examination of false revelations,and systems which have been of no serviceto the world.

THIRD. The best of men, since the esta-blishment of the christian religion, havemaintained that, the Bible fairly translatedinto the various languages of earth, isthe only safe guide in all spiritual in-vestigations.

On this part of the subject, it will be inplace to state clearly, the Romanish andProtestant positions.

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The Roman Catholic Church, while shehas advocated the inspiration of the HolyScriptures, has never admitted that, theBible is a rule of life, adapted to the people.Indeed, she has always maintained that,the naked Scriptures should not be read bythe people.

In this, she is consistent; for she thinksthe Bible has divers and diverse meanings,which the common people cannot under-stand. Hence the struggle in the UnitedStates, to keep the Bible out of schools,which Romish children attend.

The Romish position is, that the Scrip-tures must be interpreted by the doctorsof the church; and these interpretations,with the decrees of the authoritative coun-cils and the traditions of the fathers, con-stitute the only infallible rule in the church.

Protestants deny the decrees of the Ro-mish Church, and the traditions; but theysuppose the Scriptures are not, in form, arule of life. The true Protestant positionis, that it remains for each sect, to. giveauthoritative interpretations of the Bible,to suit the various ages and circumstances


of the people, and yet they say, their mem-bers have the right of private judgment,or individual interpretations; but they arescrupulously careful that, these private in-terpretations of the Bible, agree with thehigher interpretations of the respectivechurches. We shall next examine, whatwe most sacredly regard, as the Christianposition.

We believe and teach that, the HeavenlyFather gave a perfect code of laws to theJews, which were adapted to the under-standing of the people; and that everyeffort to interpret them, in a sense whichwould imply that, they could be improvedby man, was a gross departure from autho-rity. Hence the Savior charged the Jewswith the sin of rejecting the commandmentsof God, by their traditions.

We believe and teach that, the New Tes-tament is a "perfect law of liberty," andthat it is in matter and form, sufficient tomake all "wise unto salvation" who willfollow its teachings.

The most wonderful feature in the NewTestament, is its perfect adaptation to Chris-

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tians in all time and in all circumstancesof life. The man of deep learning mayemploy all his days in reading profitablythe sacred oracles; and yet, so simple areparts of this "Last will and testament"of our Lord that, in the language of theprophet, "Though fools, they shall not errtherein,"

Each article of faith or item of belief isforcibly, and yet more handsomely expressedin the Bible, than in any other book onearth. Each duty to God, is fully revealedand forcibly written, and all church obli-gations and injunctions to the world, areclearly set forth.

Thus, we are fully prepared to answerthe question, as to the origin of the know-ledge of God and our information in refer-ence to the invisible world.

The Bible is, undoubtedly, the onlymedium of communication between mortalsof earth, and God their Maker. This pro-position is sustained by the fact that, in nocountry or age has man's spiritual acquisi-tions transcended the information furnishedin the Bible. We are sorry to know that,


even in this favored land, it is contendedthat, the Bible without an additional inspi-ration, is not sufficient for spiritual light.Still they tell us, in the next breath, that"The heathen are perishing for lack of theknowledge which the Bible affords." Thusit seems, according to these statements, that,while the Scriptures, to be efficacious athome, must be accompanied by other andhigher revelations of the spirit, in lessfavored lands, and such as have no Bibles,there is no spiritual light. Man is ofteninconsistent in his ways. Take from us theprecious oracles of God, and the sun of themoral world will be blotted out, and man,with all his boasted attainments, will, in afew generations, fall into ignorance and alife of barbarism. Good and evil, where theBible is not, are words without meaning.

PART SECOND.

RULES FOR STUDYING THE BIBLE.

RULE I. We must be satisfied, beforewe can read the Scriptures understand-ingly, or profitably, that our hind Fatherintended them for his erring creatures ofearth.

THEY are not addressed to angels, de-mons, infants, or idiots; but to lost sinnerswho need a Savior. If the precious oracleshad been addressed to a chosen few calledpreachers, or expounders, the people wouldbe dependent upon mortal aid and doubtfulexpositions for light; but we should thankGod, that this rich source and pure foun-tain of truth, like rippling streams and cool-ing brooks to the thirsty, flows even tous, most unworthy creatures. If we faillearning the truth as it is in Christ Jesus,great will be our ignorance, and sad ourmisfortunes. Said the blessed Savior, "My

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words shall judge you in the last day."We should not forget that God gave hisword to man in his fallen and condemnedstate, and that it was his design to adaptit to all his spiritual wants. In the clear-ness of this pure light, the primitive Chris-tians sincerely rejoiced, and triumphed amidpersecutions and the severest trials. Thetimid were made strong, even in prison,and the consuming flames.

In trusting frail man's opinions, there isalways doubt; but the poor wanderer ofearth, who regards the Bible as "The lightto his feet and lamp to his path," can say,"I know if this earthly house of my taber-nacle were dissolved, I have a building ofGod, a house not made with hands, eternalin the Heavens."

This point admitted, we shall be encour-aged to believe that, the Bible is not asealed book—that it is what it purports tobe—a volume of revelations from Heaven.True, there are things, "hard to be under-stood, which they that are unlearned andunstable, wrest to their own destruction,"

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yet the great and cardinal features of theBible are so plain and so impressive, that"he that runs may read." Children neednot err in the practices of the Scriptures.No one should blind his eyes to the mean-ing of sin, and its deplorable consequences."All unrighteousness is sin;" and while welook into the Bible as a mirror, that reflectsperfectly our moral features, we may bechanged into the image of our God, "Fromglory to glory, even as by the Spirit of theLord."

If parents, in sending their children toschool, should be so unfortunate as to selectteachers who would impress the young mindwith the idea that, their books were incom-prehensible—too difficult to be mastered,—discouragement would press heavily upontheir young and timid hearts, and the con-fidence so essential to success, would betaken from them. No threats or stripes canenable them to surmount the obstruction.The child is at least half educated, whenit becomes fully inspired with the idea,enforced by Napoleon upon a young man


who hesitated at his task, by telling himthat, "A youth should regard nothing asimpossible."

When, therefore, we open the divinevolume, we should not only consider it asGod's book to the lost, but sufficiently plainfor all to read with marked advantage."With such encouragements we may gatherrich jewels from every page.

RULE II. In reading the Bible, the studyof words is not to be disregarded.

In reading a plain history, we often, byneglecting the meaning of a few simplewords, soon find ourselves bewildered anddiscouraged — the book becomes tiresome,and we lay it aside, either in disgust, orwith the saddening thought that, we are notcompetent to grasp its meaning. Too often,we read in such haste that, we can makenothing our own. Far better would it be,to read a passage, or chapter, two or three,or even a dozen times, than to glide over it,without properly digesting the matter con-tained in it. The great and learned menof the world agree that, each word has one,

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and but one, literal meaning. No word, inits introduction, was ever used figuratively;but was intended to express a thought; andhence, words are said, rightly, to be signs ofideas. If the word is employed to expressan action, the action is one, and never two.Thus run, always carries with it a singleidea, whether the object is to express therunning of a man; the running of a horse;the running of a steamboat, or railroad-car.If the writer intends by a word, to denote anobject, we must bear in mind, if the wordis appropriate, it gives the full image of theobject to the mind, or it gives nothing.Thus, the word boat, invariably presents tothe mind a water craft, of some kind, andnothing else. It is proper to say that, wordsare frequently employed out of their literaluse, and then, they are said to be meta-phorical.

But we must not infer that, a figurativeuse of the word gives a new and originalmeaning. True, the learned Ernesti tellsus that, "A metaphorical meaning some-times, by use, becomes the literal significa-tion of the word." Use has also changed

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its relations to other words. We shouldnot forget to impress the reader with thethought expressed by Archbishop Whatelythat, "Metaphysical meanings, as long aswords retain their original meaning, mustconform to their literal signification."

Although words in the same book, andon the same page, are applied differently,they still center in a single root meaning.In examining a word, therefore, we shouldendeavor in the first place, to get "its heart,from which, as from a fruitful seed, all theothers unfold themselves." We will intro-duce to the reader's attention, the authorityof the very learned and accurate thinker, R.C. French, Professor of Divinity in King'sCollege, London. He says, "A word hasoriginally but one meaning, and that allothers, however widely they may divergefrom one another, and seem to recede fromthis one, may yet be affiliated upon it, maybe brought back to the one center meaning,which grasps and knits them altogether;just as the races of men; black, white andred, despite of their present diversion anddispersion, have a central point of unity in

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their first parents. Here is the word 'post;'how various are the senses in which it isemployed;'post-office,' 'post-haste,' a 'post'standing in the ground, a military 'post,' anofficial' post,' to 'post' a ledger.

Might not one, at first, presume it impos-sible to bring all these uses of 'post' to acommon center? Yet, indeed, when onceon the right track nothing is easier; 'post'is the Latin 'positus,' that which is placed;the piece of timber is 'placed' in the ground,and so a 'post;' a military station is a 'post,'for a man is 'placed' in it, and must notquit it without orders; to travel 'post,' isto have certain relays of horses 'placed' atintervals, so that no delay on the road mayoccur; the 'post'-office, is that which availsitself of this mode of communication; to'post' a ledger, is to 'place' or register itsseveral items." Hundreds of similar exam-ples might be given, but the result would bethe same.

In reading the Bible, suppose the firstword that meets the eye, is 'faith.' If wecannot find a satisfactory meaning in thedictionary, we might refer the sense to the


decision of the Scriptures. In opening atthe 11th chapter of Hebrews and first verse,we are informed that, "Faith is the sub-stance, (confidence) of things hoped for, andevidence of things not seen." This is satis-factory without comment or explanation;and whenever we find the word in theBible, we may rest assured, the idea is thatof confidence in the truth of what is written.Thus, it is our rejoicing confidence that,Christ died for our sins; that he rose fromthe dead for our justification; and that if wefollow him, through evil, as well as goodreport, our heartfelt conviction is that, weshall reign with him in heaven.

In the word 'church,' we have the simpleidea of an assemblage of persons, withoutregard to the business for which they maybe convened; but when we see the phrase,"Church of Christ," we have the idea of acompany of Christ's disciples—a body ofthe Saints.

What a vast amount of evil might beaverted, if religious teachers and studentsof the Bible, would apply this rule to manywords in reference to which the controversies

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are so exciting; as the word 'repent,' andthe word 'baptize.' Each has a definitemeaning and may be easily learned. If, forinstance, 'baptize' is a word of any lan-guage, we know it has one meaning and butone. Whatever it might be, it should bewritten in the Bible, and this, and thisalone, would put an end to all strife on thislong vexed question. Indeed, most, if notall religious controversies might be easilysettled in this manner. But time and spacefail us to say half that might be useful tothe young student of the Bible upon thisvery important rule.

RULE III. We should read, not to provea system, but to learn the truth.

Most persons are brought up with un-yielding prejudices in favor of a particulardenomination or system of religion. Deno-minational prejudices seldom, if ever, failto warp the judgment and bias the conclu-sions. When the Bible is read as a text orproof-book, it seems impossible to learnthe truth as it is set forth. Suppose weadmit, in obedience to the ordinary custom


of preaching from texts, that there is matterin each verse for a sermon, and in manyinstances, in each clause of a verse in theBible, and that this is the true mode ofgetting at the sense of the Scriptures, inwhat time, could a diligent learner, becomefamiliar with the Bible? If we were all tolive to the age of Methuselah, we would bebut beginners in the science of religion.But when we take into consideration thefearful truth that, at least half of these textsermons are preached as far from the textas Heaven is from earth, we begin to doubtwhether we would receive more error thantruth in such a procedure. A correct historyof such preaching would have the subjectof spiritual improvement in fearful doubt, tosay the least.

When the Bible is read as a text-book,of course, it is presumed there is no con-nection in the divine oracles, and that thedifferent parts contribute but little, if any,to a satisfactory solution of the whole record.In this view, the Bible is a book of proverbsand disjointed sentences and clauses, eachof which has to be studied independently

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of all the rest. On this plan, anything,everything may be proved with equal ease.Have not the most contradictory systemsbeen established by this license with theword of God? Each system is presumedto be independent of the Bible, and to havean existence without it. In reading thevarious creeds, few, if any, of the articles,are in the words and forms of the Scrip-tures; but their framers tell us that, theyagree with the Bible, and are the veryessence of God's word. It is an alarmingerror to conclude that, there are Bible ideas,which cannot be expressed in the words ofthe Bible. When we prefer other forms ofspeech, it is a tacit admission that, we arebest pleased with things which are notsacred; and, indeed, that we are not de-pendent for our religious information uponthe plain teachings of the Scriptures. Asintimated, all human systems are made onthis plan.

Were it our object to prove the truth ofRomanism, granting us this liberty, weshould read the Bible with the idea that, itwas our business, to find all the Catholic


passages in the Scriptures. In the firstplace, other passages could have but little, ifany, effect upon our minds. It is doubtful,whether, adopting this mode of investiga-tion, we could receive the proper impressionof the meaning of one verse in a thousand.But in the prosecution of our labor, wewould begin to read with our articles in ourmind and heart; and, perhaps, in Genesis,Exodus, or some one of the five books ofMoses, we might, perhaps, find a singleverse or clause, in unison with our creed;—-this passage, we would mark as suitable;and to conform to general custom, we wouldextract it from its connection, and appendit as proof to one of our cherished articles.Thus, we might proceed through both theOld and New Testament, cutting, carving,and splitting the sentences of the Bible, toget proofs for our systems. In this manner,we might demonstrate, at least to our satis-faction, that the good Peter was not only arock, but by selecting an article from onepart, and a noun from another, possibly, wemight prove that he was the rock, on whichChrist built His church; and with a slight

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effort of imagination, we might make thissame modest Peter the head of the churchand the first Roman pontiff.

But could we not quite as easily establishCalvinism or Armenianism, in this samemanner? Who would find it an arduoustask to prove universal salvation withoutregard to conduct or character, with suchliberty? Did we design to prove Univer-salism, we would select such passages as,"God sent not his son into the world to con-demn the world; but that the world throughHim might be saved," (Jno. iii, 17); "Godis the Savior of all men," (1 Tim. iv, 10), etc.Where is the evil? Is it not too much toassert that, the very words of the Bible,convey a false idea when they are detachedfrom their connection. In keeping with thedeclaration that, "God sent not his son tocondemn the world," it is said by our Lord,"He that believeth not, is condemned al-ready, because he had not believed in thename of the only begotten son of God,"(Jno. iii, 18); and while Paul says: "Godis the Savior (preserver) of all men," in thevery next words, he informs us that, He


is "specially" a Savior "of those thatbelieve."

Might we not quite as adroitly prove, bythis mode, that, there is no God, or that,there are many Gods — as many as theGreeks, Romans, and Egyptians worship-ed? We find the words in the Bible,"there is no God,"—this is enough to showthe point;—but the whole passage assertsthat, "The fool has said in his heart, thereis no God." Ps. xiv, 1. The Apostle tellsus, "There be that are called Gods, whetherin Heaven or on earth, (as there be godsmany, and lords many) but to us there isbut one God, the Father," (1 Cor. viii, 5, 6).But does not the reader perceive that, withsuch an object in view, in reading theScriptures, there is neither probability orpossibility of aiming at the truth?

We may gravely ask, when we observeso many contradictions in the various deno-minations, how shall we read the Bible toprofit? There is no doubt our HeavenlyFather intended that his word should makeall proper moral impressions on the mind;and necessarily, the first object to attain is,

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to remove every obstruction between theheart and the Divine volume. We shouldendeavor, in reading, to stand erect beforeGod, and if possible, forget all prejudice,and we are not sure but it would be well, toforget all we believe of a religious character.Having thus brushed the clouds out of ourway, we should say with the good Samuel,"Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth."

We recollect a good illustration of therule, with an excellent preacher and hisfaithful wife. They had long been in cloudsand darkness in relation to many things inthe Bible. The fact is, they had receivedfrom their early teachers things that werenot true, yet from long habit, they lovedthem; but in reading they could not getthem and the Bible in unison. The strug-gle was intense; but as the preacher's heartfinally yielded to the Spirit's teaching, in-stead of the teaching of men, he said to hiswife, "Let us open the book, and hear Godspeak, while we will be content to listen towhat he says." The triumph was complete—traditions were abandoned, God spoketo the heart through his word—both grew


"Strong in the Lord and in the power of hismight." This humble man told us, yearsafterward, that, he never afterward enter-tained a doubt as to his position in religion.Indeed, there is no occasion to doubt, if webelieve through the truth "as it is written."

Hence, in reading Genesis i, 1, "In thebeginning God created the Heaven and theearth," we should not ask, What does thisprove? but, What does it teach? Moses hadno geological theory to prove, and he in-tended, simply, to state that, "First of all,God made the Heaven and the earth"—Godis the Author of all. When the Saviorsaid, "Go teach the nations, baptizing theminto the name of the Father, Son and HolySpirit," the only question should be, Whatdoes Christ say? If we know his will,happy will we be, if we do it. Proceedingto read in this manner, we cannot see howany one can fail to learn the truth in itssimplicity and power.

RULE IV. We should read the Biblewith the idea that, God is his own inter-preter, and he has made it plain.

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Unfortunately for the world, the Romishdoctors, at an early period in the history ofthe church, authoritatively established thedogma that, the Bible could be of no servicewithout a church interpretation. From thatsad hour, the precious oracles have beenvailed. While Protestants deny the au-thority of the Romish priests, to interpretfor the world, they maintain the right of"private judgment," in the sense that, eachindividual is authorized to make a creed tosuit himself; so it does not contradict thecreed of the respective party. If the worldunderstood, by private judgment, the rightof every one to read, understand and believethe Scriptures as they are written, not onlywould all good men concur, but such a rule,faithfully carried out, would rid the worldof much idle speculation. Our observationof those who advocate, what they are pleasedto call, "liberty of conscience," under thehead of "private judgment," leads us tothe conclusion that, their pretended right to"think for themselves," not only gives eachone the liberty to construct and maintain,the wildest views; but as a class, they are


generally as exclusive and overbearing, asthe Pope himself. While the Romanistsadvocate one authoritative system of inter-pretations, the "private judgment" of theage emboldens the millions to make an in-fallible rule of their whims, caprices andfleshly passions, under the imposing headof "freedom." The fact is, men are en-titled to no authoritative opinions, in reli-gion; and if they even honestly miss thetruth, as our mother Eve did, in eatingthe forbidden fruit, it is at their own peril.God says, (Isai. lv, 8, 9), "My thoughtsare not as your thoughts, neither are yourways as my ways. For as the Heavens arehigher than the earth, so are my ways higherthan your ways, and my thoughts than yourthoughts." Men speak and write upon thissubject, as if the Bible were not a revelation.It should be remembered that, a revelationis a development of things not previouslyknown, and, if we agree that, God made therevelations attributed to him, it would bean extremely strange conclusion for us tosuppose, they are not as plain as their Au-thor intended they should be; or that they

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are not completely adapted to those forwhom they were intended, and perfectlysatisfactory.

But not to be tedious, the Bible, is reallyand, to all intents and purposes, a book ofexplanations and interpretations of God'smind to the world. When, therefore, wesay it is a revelation, explanation and inter-pretation of our Heavenly Father's will, itwould be highly incongruous, to maintain,this revelation, had yet to be revealed, orthat these explanations or interpretations,still demanded explanations and interpre-tations, in the sense, at least, in which thesewords are used in modern time. It mustbe offensive to the Majesty of Heaven andearth, to assert, His interpretations and re-velations, still require expositions to adaptthem to man. If God required an inter-preter, mortals should not be selected forthe purpose. Jesus Christ came, "To makeknown," reveal, "his Father to the world;"and his work is so perfect that, every effortto make it plainer, only "darkens counselwith words without meaning."

All the sacred records contradict the


supposition that, an interpreter is needed.Words, as we have learned, are the signsof ideas, and when we admit that, Jehovahemployed the words and phrases with whichhis creatures were familiar, it is not reason-able to suppose, that everything is not asplain, as God himself could make it.

A few examples from the Scriptures will,we think, settle this apparently difficultquestion.

Our Savior said, "He that believeth onme, as the Scripture hath said, out of hisbelly shall now rivers of living water,"(Jno. vii, 38). Notice, gentle reader, weare to believe as the Scriptures havesaid. How is this done, but in the verywords of the Scriptures i In the ever-me-morable prayer of our Lord, the subject isbrought vividly to view thus, "Neither prayI for these alone, but for them also who shallbelieve on me through their word; that theyall may be one, as thou, Father, art in me,and I in thee, (Jno. xvii, 20). It is notdifficult to see, that correct belief in JesusChrist, is through the word of the Apostles.They spoke as the Spirit gave them words,

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or "utterance," and the words believed putthe hearers in possession of the faith, theend of which, is the salvation of the soul.

In the great commission, the apostlesare commanded to, "Preach the Gospel."Mind, they are not authorized to expound,explain or interpret the Gospel, but simplyto preach it. They had no right to expressthe slightest opinion concerning it, under thefalse show of freedom—liberty of conscience—and had they done so, they would haveforfeited all respect as credible witnessesand ministers of the word.

Why was such a mission given? Didnot our Lord know that the Gospel was, andis, completely adapted to all for whom it isintended? The simple, plain, and nakedtruth, when fairly translated, is in the onlyform the belief of which will constitute Chris-tian faith. The belief of expositions, inter-pretations and opinions of the word, is notthe faith that brings to the soul peace andfull satisfaction.

In Paul's last letter to his beloved Timo-thy, he says: "I charge thee, therefore,before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who


shall judge the quick and the dead, at hisappearing and his kingdom; Preach theword," (2 Tim. iv, 1, 2). Can the readerfarther doubt that a hearty belief of thevery words of the Bible, is the only truefaith?

How pleasant it is to reflect that, whenwe read or hear the word of God, we arein the closest converse with our Father inHeaven,—with our blessed Savior JesusChrist, and with the God-Spirit, our advo-cate of the Christian institution! Whenwe believe and obey these words, we believeand obey God, and enjoy all correct assur-ances of acceptance with our Creator. Themany exceedingly great and precious pro-mises of the Bible, afford to the pious hearta hope, which "Is an anchor to the soul,both sure and steadfast, and which enterethinto the veil, whither the forerunner hasentered for us." Are we told that, on thisplan, we have no use for preachers to becalled of God, to make known the gladtidings? True, if we know the truth al-ready, it cannot be made known to us asecond time, and we are willing to admit

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that, we have no men called now, as werethe ambassadors of our Lord. When theywere commissioned, the New Testamentwas not written, and its contents were notknown. These preachers had the treasuresof the Gospel in "earthen vessels"—theywere the sacred reservoirs of the fountainof wisdom, into which the angels in vain,desired to look. They "brought glad-tid-ings of good things," which no preacher now"brings." Nevertheless, God makes it theduty of "faithful men" in this age, as hehas done since the Gospel was first pub-lished, to announce the things that arewritten for the salvation of the ruined sonsand daughters of earth. Consequently, allChristians are called to their respective du-ties in proportion to the "ability" of each,and happy shall he or she be, who does thewill of the Father.

RULE V. The different portions of theScriptures, should be read with direct refer-ence to their legitimate connections.

If a passage should appear difficult atthe first reading, we should carefully exa-


mine all parallel passages; and we wouldsoon learn that, the different parts, furnishperfect commentaries. In thus "comparingspiritual things with spiritual," we couldscarcely fail to learn the true intent andpurpose of the various writers.

Should we, for instance, desire to studythe subject of Faith, we would act wisely incomparing a number of connections andpassages on this subject. In thus compar-ing the Scriptures, we would learn, 1st, that,"Faith is the substance of things hoped for,and the evidence of things not seen," (Heb.xi, 1); 2dly, that "Faith comes by hearing,and hearing by the word of God," (Ro. x, 17);3dly, that, "With the heart man believethunto righteousness, and with the mouth con-fession is made unto salvation," (Ro. x, 10);4thly, that, "He that believeth on the Sonhath everlasting life," (Jno. iii, 36); and inthe 5th, and last place, that, "Whosoeverbelieveth on him (the Son) shall not beashamed." Ro. ix, 33. In the same man-ner, we may examine most scriptural sub-jects with equal satisfaction.

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Oft-times, by looking at a single passagewithout regarding the connection, we areliable to be deceived, and thrown into dan-gerous errors. Especially, should we looknarrowly at the context of everything thatstrikes us as being difficult; and, we shouldnot hasten to conclusions, before we havefinished the connection. For illustration,the apostle Paul introduces an argument inthe first part of the epistle to the Hebrews,which he does not close, till he reaches thetenth chapter. Other examples might beadduced, but we deem them unnecessary.

RULE VI. In reading, attention shouldbe given to the character of the personsaddressed.

Parts of the Bible were written exclu-sively for the Jews, and can strictly beapplied to no other people; other parts, areintended for the world, or such as professno religion; and again, we have many bookswhich were designed for churches or indi-vidual Christians alone. The repeated fail-ures, in this particular, produce the greatest


confusion of society, of which mention ismade in the Scriptures. The reader willfind a good illustration in the wise judgmentof the Lord, in confounding the tongues inthe building of the tower of Babel. Thecondition of affairs, when the languageswere confounded, leads us immediately toconclude that, the workmen were preventedfrom proceeding in the enterprise, from in-capacity to express the name of the workintended, and the character of the assistantsnecessary to carry it forward. Thus thesuperintendent, who desired "more brick,"would cry out for mortar; another, whodesired stones, would call for grass; andstill another, who wanted more timber,would vociferate, water, water! The con-sequence was, the tower could go no higher;but stood as an eternal monument of man'sfolly and utter incapacity to construct anyedifice resembling the works of the Father.Not so in building the ark. Noah workedunder divine directions, and every part pro-ceeded in its proper order to completion.Not thus, in the erection of the Temple bySolomon. Rules were given for the prepa-

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ration of all the materials, and when theywere brought together, "there was not thesound of a hammer or any iron instrument,"in rearing that most splendid edifice ofearth. "God was in it."

Neglect of this rule, is the most fruit-ful source of the disputes and contradic-tions of the various denominations in ourown times. A few illustrations will be ofservice.

In the days of King Solomon, it was"Better to go to the house of mourning,than to the house of feasting," and hencethe people of the Lord took much interest insympathizing with their afflicted brethren.The Apostle exhorts to "weep (mourn) withthem that weep, and rejoice with them thatrejoice." Christians are always benefitedby mingling their sorrows and tears withthose of the distressed. They feel that,"Sorrow is better than laughter," and bythe "sadness of the countenance, the heartis made better." But when the Christianduty, and Christian privilege of mourning,is applied to the world, with the promisethat by mourning for sins, they shall be


forgiven, the whole subject is thrown intosad confusion. It places the sinner in ex-treme doubt, whether Christ has any posi-tive appointment for remission to aliens,and thus, he is led into the most extravagantexperiments to gain the power of God. Thisconfusion arises from misapplying the de-claration of the Savior to his disciples, onthe Mount, when they were separate fromthe multitude," Blessed are they that mourn;for they shall be comforted." Mat. v, 4.That it was addressed to the disciples alone,is obvious, from the parallel passage inLuke. "And he lifted up his eyes on hisdisciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor; foryours is the kingdom of God. Blessed areye that hunger now; for ye shall be filled.Blessed are ye that weep (mourn) now; forye shall laugh. Blessed are ye when menshall hate you, and when they shall separateyou from their company, and shall reproachyou, and cast out your names as evil for theSon of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that dayand leap for joy; for behold, your reward isgreat in Heaven." Luke vi, 20-22. Whenthe sinner is put to struggling and mourning

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for something, he knows not what; but withthe faint hope that, light will burst upon thesoul, when, perhaps, he is least anticipatingit, his condition is truly pitiable. There isin the practice a most dangerous deception.The horrors of the damned are portrayed inthe darkest colors, and his own character ispresented as the worst in existence, for thepurpose of thrusting him, as nearly as pos-sible, into the regions of "the awful gulf;"and it is well understood that, the lower themiserable victim can be sunk, the morespeedily will exhausted nature react. Sosoon as the worst of this fearful storm offeeling has past, the patient, of course, feelsthat, his bitter tears have washed away apart at least, if not all his load of anguish;and this effort of overburdened nature to befree, is whispered into the deceived heart, asreligion, and a clear receipt of remission.This trick of the age, arises from applyingto penitents Scriptures which were neverdesigned for them. Another example maybe drawn from the address of Paul to Chris-tians, "Let a man examine himself, and solet him eat of that bread and drink of that


cup." 1 Cor. xi, 28. It will not be forgot-ten that, "Many of the Corinthians hearing,believed, and were baptized." Acts xviii, 8.But this preparatory examination, whichwas enjoined exclusively on such as hadbelieved with all the heart unto righteous-ness, renounced their sins, and been bap-tized into Christ; when applied to saintsand sinners indiscriminately, with the ex-hortation to examine themselves, and if they"feel worthy to partake of the Lord's Sup-per," is well calculated to scandalize thismost solemn feast of the church of God, Athird and last example, may be drawn fromthe practice of the different denominationsin directing the last in the way of salvation.

To the jailer, Paul said: "Believe onthe Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt besaved and thy house," (Acts xvi, 31); toother inquiries, an inspired apostle said:"Repent, and be baptized every one of you,in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remis-sion of sins, and you shall receive the giftof the Holy Spirit," (Acts ii, 38); but again,a sinner is told to "Arise and be baptized,and wash away his sins, calling on the name

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of the Lord." Acts xxii, 16. Are not theseScriptures quoted, by the most popularpreachers, for the purpose of contradictingeach other? Are the passages really con-tradictory? If they are, the Bible is not acredible book. But does it not become theteachers of the various systems to, eitherexpunge a part of these Scriptures, or har-monize them?

Why were these seeming contradictionswritten? The answer is not difficult. Itwas in consequence of the differences of thecharacter of the persons addressed. Hence,to the jailer, the apostle said: "Believe,"and the appropriateness of the direction isapparent from the fact, that he had notpreviously been instructed in the faith ofChrist. Afterward, the apostles, "spokethe word of the Lord to the jailer and allthat were in his house;" of course, theywere taught the nature of belief and itsevidence; and the consequence was, thatthe same hour of the night, all were bap-tized, and became rejoicing Christians. Tothe unbeliever, it would be altogether inap-propriate to say, repent, pray or be baptized.


But if we have evidence of the existence offaith, it would be fanciful to say, believe.The Pentecostians had heard Peter preachthe word, and, as evidence that they be-lieved, they were "pricked in their heart,"and cried, "Men and brethren, what shallwe do?" The inspired Peter answered,"Repent." The most superficial reader cansee the propriety of these different direc-tions.

But suppose we could find an example ofone who had believed with all his heart,and had repented of every sin, still was nota Christian, What should we direct him todo? We have a case in point. Saul ofTarsus, believed with his whole soul, thevery moment he heard the voice fromHeaven, "I am Jesus whom thou perse-cutest." From this instant, for three days,he neither ate nor drank anything, and allmust agree that, during these sad hours, henot only had ample opportunity to reflect onhis lost condition, but did, from the depthsof his soul, repent of every sin. In thiscondition, it would have been foolish forAnanias to say, believe, repent, or pray, for

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he had believed, repented, and prayed."What will you have me to do?" was theinquiry. Ananias approaches him to an-swer the prayer, and said: "Now whytarriest thou, arise and be baptized, andwash away thy sins, calling on the name ofthe Lord. Acts xxii, 16. There is, there-fore, no contradiction in these Scriptures.Hence, the reader will at once see, and feelthe necessity of understanding clearly thecharacter of the persons addressed in thedifferent parts of the Bible.

RULE VII. The proper division of theBible, should be constantly before the mindof the reader.

Although this rule very nearly affiliatesto the, sixth, there are important bearingswhich somewhat differ, and under this head,we can introduce matter which does notseem so appropriate under the former.

The apostle, in giving the qualificationsof an "approved workman," or preacher ofthe gospel, places the ability to "Rightlydivide the work of truth," as an indispen-sable prerequisite.


The reader will easily discover that, inthe elucidation of this last, and in our judg-ment, most important rule for reading theBible, we have before us a wide field forillustration.

In the first place, we beg leave to reporta case, for the truth of which we are respon-sible. Tears ago, in our travels, we spenta night at a town in a southern state, andheard the following conversation with thelady who presided at the supper table. Shewas asked:

"Are you a member of any church?"The lady in a feeble voice replied, "No.""Why are you not?" "I could not getreligion." "Did you try?" "Yes," wasthe reply, "I tried several years, and whenI saw many succeed so easily, I felt thatthere was none for me; and I have notprayed since." "Do you read the Bible?"said the fair inquirer. "Not now," saidthe woman, with a sad heart. "Why doyou not read?" said she. "I cannot under-stand the Bible; and when I saw, manyyears ago, that I could not understand theScriptures, I quit reading." The next ques-

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tion asked was; "What part of the Bibledid you read, to learn how to become aChristian?" "Oh!" said the lady, "I wasnot particular; I found very pretty readingin Job, the Psalms, and more, I believe inProverbs." The reader will discover that,this honest, yet deluded daughter of an oldpreacher, was looking up and down theScriptures, hoping that she would, bychance, light upon some place that wouldshow her how to "get religion." Herfriends knew not how to direct her, andwere, indeed, so shamefully ignorant that,they could not inform her; religion is notsomething which people "get," but a practice.James i, 26. She had no idea of the objectof the books of the Old or New Testament,and presumed she would as likely learn howto become a Christian from the Proverbs ofSolomon, the Psalms of David, or the dis-tresses of poor, old, afflicted Job, as anypart of the New Testament. Her fatherought to have been able to teach her, thatthe Old Testament was not written for thepurpose of giving information in referenceto becoming the disciples of Jesus Christ.


Indeed, she ought to have known, that itwas written long before Christ was born,or Christianity was revealed; and that Job,David and Solomon, all died looking forbetter things, but were not permitted to seethe rising of the Sun of righteousness withhealings in his wings.

If we are not mistaken, thousands of sin-cere persons read the Bible, with quite asmuch uncertainty as this good woman; andit is to them, so far as intelligence is con-cerned, a sealed book. Not many yearssince, she died, we are informed, as she hadlived, without hope and without God.

If school teachers were to treat theirpupils, as too many preachers and writerstreat their congregations and readers, itwould become a matter of grave delibera-tion, whether the schoolmaster should notbe dismissed. Suppose the teacher, in open-ing his school, should require each pupil tobring all the books necessary to completehis education. The pupils, or perhaps theparents, would bring the 'AlphabeticalPrimer;' the 'Speller;' the various 'Headers;'the 'Grammar;' 'Geography;' 'Arithmetic;

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perhaps 'Algebra,' 'Geometry,' etc., in theMathematical line; a book on 'Chemistry;'another on 'Geology,' etc., etc., to theend of the course. We will witness thisteacher's debut. Little John asks: "Mr.Schoolmaster, what shall I study?" Thegrave pedagogue replies; "You have allthe books necessary to take you to Con-gress, and you may begin where you please,you have to study them all." Look atJohn, he has taken up 'Algebra,' wrongend up—hear him read;—that's fluent —a smart scholar he; but the poor littlefellow does not know his letters, and ofcourse, he can understand nothing in thebook. This reminds us of members of theRomish Church, who read the service inLatin, without understanding a word thatthey read. But look round, and you willsee the rest of the pupils in equal confusion.The more they study, the less they know,—their path grows darker and darker, andfinally the disappointed children becomeweary, and throw down their books indisgust. "Mind your books," says theteacher; it is all to no effect, they cannot


learn. What is the reason? The teacherbegan wrong, and years of labor on thisplan, would be of no service. This, reader,is not an unapt illustration of reading theScriptures.

The wise teacher will have his pupilsbegin at the alphabet, and proceed regularlyand inductively, till they can master thehighest branches. When one desires tostudy arithmetic, there is an appropriatebook for the purpose; and no substitute willanswer in its place. To learn grammar,geography, chemistry, etc., there are booksentirely suitable. But we should rememberthat, geography cannot be learned from thetreatise on algebra, neither can geology belearned from a treatise on music, and thebest talent and closest application, will notenable students to surmount mistakes inselecting the books appropriate to the severaldepartments of science.

These suggestions, it is hoped, will pictureforth, the usual plan of studying religioussubjects, and direct attention to a betterplan. There is a proper beginning, andunless we start at the right point, we will

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miss the truth as far, as the clumsy sur-veyor, who would attempt to determine anamount of land, without a starting or con-cluding corner. The greater the labor, thegreater the confusion in his plots.

A part of the Bible is appropriated to thePatriarchal religion; another part to theJewish; and still, a third develops theChristian institution. These dispensationsof divine wisdom, should be kept as sepa-rate as God has made them; and the bookswhich treat of each, to be comprehended,must be read with direct reference to theirrespective subjects.

With these simple rules, we shall proceedto another, and still more interesting divi-sion of our subject.

PART THIRD.

THE BIBLE EXAMINED.IT would be unreasonable to conclude

that, it is not in the power of accountablecreatures, to acquire rich stores of spirituallight, by examining the sacred oracles; andwe trust that, in our remaining investiga-tions, our readers will contemplate the va-rious points of discussion, with unveiledhearts.

I. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE PURPORT TO BE?The volume is usually called, "The Bi-

ble"—meaning, "The Book" to express itspre-eminence over all other books; and it isbelieved by Christians that, it is the onlyvolume on earth, which has God for itsAuthor. The term Bible has been in usefrom an early age of the Christian Church;but from the close of the first century, the

(61)

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name "Holy Scriptures" has been employedto designate the contents of the Divine"Volume.

As intimated, it purports to have beenwritten by the inspiration of God. Thereare various theories of inspiration; butas our object is not so much a criticalexamination of the Scriptures, as to aid,particularly young persons, to read to ad-vantage, we will barely introduce a fewstatements from the Bible itself, whichafford, no doubt, the clearest view of thesubject.

The apostle Paul tells us that, "God whoat sundry times, and in divers manners,spake in times past unto the fathers by theprophets, hath in these last days spokenunto us by his Son." Heb. i, 1. Petertells us that, "Holy men of God spake, asthey were moved by the Holy Ghost."2 Pet. i, 21. Christ told the apostles that,"The Spirit should 'guide' them into alltruth;"—said He, "The Holy Spirit shallteach you all things, and bring all thingsto your remembrance, whatsoever I have


said unto you." "It is not you that speak;but the Spirit of my Father that speaks in(through) you." The apostle to the Gen-tiles, asserted that, "Eye hath not seen, norear heard, neither have entered into theheart of man, the things which God hathprepared for them that love him. But Godhath revealed them unto us by the Spirit.Which things also we speak not in thewords which man's wisdom teacheth, butwhich the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparingspiritual things with spiritual." From thesebrief and lucid quotations, with scores ofothers equally pointed, we cannot doubt theinspiration of the Scriptures; and with Job,we exclaim, "There is a spirit in man, andthe inspiration of the Almighty giveth themunderstanding."

As previously intimated, we believe theBible contains all the information, in theleast possible form, to make men wise untosalvation. That it is, in form and in fact,perfect in all its parts, and therefore, tho-roughly furnishes the man of God, "with allthings which pertain to life and godliness."

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II. LANGUAGES IN WHICH THE BIBLE WASWRITTEN.

The Old Testament was written in He-brew, with the exception of parts of thebooks of Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel, whichwere written in Chaldee.

The New Testament was written in theGreek Language, or what is called by thelearned, Hellenistic or Hebraizing Greek.It is termed Hebraizing Greek, in conse-quence of various Hebrew words and formsof speech being incorporated in the compo-sition. These, however, detract not fromthe strength or simplicity of the volume.The purest Greek of the New Testament, issaid to be, the letter to the Hebrews; andthe part containing the most Hebrew, isthe Revelation.

III. THE TRANSLATION.

The first English version of the entireScriptures, was by John Wickliff, with theassistance of some friends, and was pub-lished about the year 1380 of our era. His


New Testament was published in 1367.Wickliff did not understand Hebrew orGreek, but being a good Latin scholar, hetranslated from the Vulgate or Latin ver-sion. Although there were many inaccu-racies in this version, it was the means ofshedding a flood of the pure light amongthe people.

William Tyndal, a Welchman by birth,but educated at Oxford, England, wasbanished from his native land for attempt-ing to translate the Scriptures into a tonguewhich his countrymen could read; but wasenabled to give to the public his first editionof the New Testament in 1526. Whencopies were imported into England fromGermany, where it was published, the Ro-mish clergy were exceedingly provoked, anddeclared that, it was impossible to renderthe Scriptures into English; and still worse,that it was not lawful for the people to havethem in their common tongue. They weredispleased, likewise, because Tyndal, likeWickliff, had translated some of the sacredwords, whose meaning they wished to hidefrom the people. It is probable, Tyndal

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translated mainly from the Latin Bible; asit was thought by many at that time, that,Latin was the most suitable language forthe word of God; but he evidently com-pared it with the Greek, and it has been thebasis of all English translations since bisday. For the crime of giving the peoplethe word of God, Tyndal was imprisoned inthe castle at Antwerp in 1534 and in 1536;he was strangled and burnt as a heretic.Miles Coverdale, while Tyndal was inprison, completed Tyndal's translation ofthe Old Testament, and gave the worldthe entire Bible in English in the year1535.

Great Bible. In the year 1539, Graf-ton and Whitchurch published the EnglishBible, translated, as they declared in thetitle, by divers learned men, from the He-brew and Greek. This is generally re-garded as the first English translationfrom the originals.

Geneva Bible. On the death of Edward,King of England, Mary was raised to thethrone, and her partisans were so severeagainst Protestants, that many took refuge


in Germany, and at Geneva, some of thememployed their time in translating the Scrip-tures. They published the New Testamentin 1557. This is the first version of theNew Testament, in which the verses of thechapters are distinguished by Numericalfigures and breaks.

The Bishop's Bible. Queen Mary dyingin 1558, was succeeded by Elizabeth, whorestored the Protestant religion in England.In her reign Archbishop Parker, by theassistance of other Bishops of the EnglishChurch, published a revised version of theBible in 1568. Hence it was called theBishop's Bible.

King James's Bible. Queen Elizabethdying in 1602, was succeeded by James VI.,King of Scotland, who soon after his arrivalat London, was petitioned by the Puritanministers, to appoint a convention for thepurpose of taking steps to prepare and pub-lish a correct edition of the Scriptures; andon the 12th of January, 1603, the Hamp-ton Court conference convened. James ap-pointed forty-seven translators for the work,to act in obedience to the following rules:

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1st. "That they keep as close as possibleto the Bishop's Bible."

2d. "That the names of the holy writers,be retained according to vulgar use."

3d. "That the old ecclesiastical words bekept, as the word Church, not to be trans-lated Congregation."

4th. "That when a word has divers sig-nifications (which is impossible) that is tobe kept, which has been most commonlyused by the fathers." Or according toLewis and Fuller, "Used by the most emi-nent fathers, being agreeable to the propri-ety of the place, and the analogy of faith."

Most of the other rules relate to thetranslators comparing notes and agreeingamong themselves.

The translation was finished and pub-lished in 1611, and has been the only au-thorized version of the English Scripturesamongst Protestants for the space of 243years.

As they labored under such embarrassingrules, the reader could scarcely look for aver-sion free from error; but with all its defectsin spelling, syntax, and failures to translate


certain ecclesiastical words, the meaning ofwhich they wished to keep from the people,it is, perhaps, the purest version in theEnglish language.

That it needs amendments, no scholardenies; but still, most of the practical mat-ters are so plain that, with proper rules forreading, the honest-hearted can scarcely faillearning the truth. Less than this, we couldnot say, and give the inquirer after truth,satisfaction in regard to the translation,which has been the standard of most ofthe pious of earth for so great a lengthof time.

IV. DIVISIONS OF THE BIBLE.The Old and New Testaments.

The Sacred Scriptures, in which are re-corded the leading events of the world,from the creation for four thousand years,constitute what all Christians and Jews,sail the "Old Testament." This is plain,from various passages found in the Bible.The apostle Paul says: (2 Cor. iii, 14),"For until this day the same vail is untakenaway in reading the Old Testament." In

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(Heb. ix, 15), he again speaks of "the firsttestament." The books authorized by JesusChrist, are called "The New Testament."The Saviour says: (Mat. xxvi, 28), "Thisis my blood of the New Testament."Paul says: (2 Cor. iii, 6), "He madeus able ministers of the New Testament."Also, (Heb. vii, 22), "Was Jesus made asurety of a better testament." Heb. ix, 15."He is the mediator of the New Testa-ment."

Each of these respective documents, isoften designated by the word covenant inour translation. "Behold, the days come,saith the Lord, when I will make a newcovenant with the house of Israel, and withthe house of Judah. Not according to thecovenant that I made with their fathers,

. . . because they continued not inmy covenant." Heb. viii, 9.

Jesus Christ is said to be, "The mediatorof a better covenant, established upon betterpromises. For if that first covenant hadbeen faultless, then no place should havebeen sought for the second." Heb. viii,6, 7, 8.


By way of contrast, the Old Testament iscalled, "The ministration of death," "Theministration of condemnation," whilst theNew is styled, "The ministration of righte-ousness," and "The ministration of thespirit." In consequence of the inefficiencyof the Old Testament, it is called simply,"The letter,"—" The letter killeth," whilstthe New, in consequence of the superiorspiritual blessings which are enjoyed, isstyled, "The spirit,"—" The spirit givethlife." 2 Cor. iii, 6-9. It is our purposefirst, to examine, particularly,

THE DIVISIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.The New Testament writers speak plainly

of" The law, the prophets and the psalms,"but all these are comprehended in the gen-eral term, "Scriptures." In the Old Tes-tament, there are thirty-nine books or trea-tises, and it is a singular fact that, no twoof these were written with precisely thesame design. The following is, perhaps,the most perspicuous and satisfactory divi-sion of these most ancient and sacred docu-ments:

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1st. HISTORY or LAW.2d. PROPHESY, — PROPHETS.3d. POETRY, — PSALMS, etc.

Of the thirty-nine books of the Old cove-nant, eighteen are history, sixteen are pro-phetical, and jive are purely poetical. It istrue, there are parts of prophecies, whichare poetical, but our divisions are sufficientlyaccurate for practical purposes.

In the historical parts of the Old Testa-ment, we begin with Genesis, and concludewith Job; and, as we wish the reader tobelieve that, all these historic books aresufficiently plain to be understood by thosewho are able to read, we will call attentionto some of the striking features of a few ofthem, with the hope that, the student will,in like manner, be encouraged to examineall the books.

Scholars admit that, Moses was the authorof Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,and Deuteronomy; and that, God commis-sioned him to write them. It is a wellascertained fact that, he was born about2,400 years after the creation, and lived ahundred and twenty years.


The first book of his composition is calledGENESIS, in Greek, from the Hebrew, Bere-shith, which means the beginning. Theword Genesis, implies origin, source, crea-tion, etc., and the most commonly receivedidea is, that it is the book descriptive of theCreation.

The very first verse of the book, gives anexalted view of the character of Jehovah.Whilst the ignorant had speculated mostwildly in reference to the origin of theearth, man, the heavens, and all animateand inanimate objects. Moses says: "Inthe beginning (first of all) God created theheavens and the earth." In other wordsGod is the author of the universe. Theidea of so vast a creation from nothing, isone of the grandest conceptions that everfilled the soul of man. After the heavensand the earth had received the impress ofMajesty, six days were required, for ar-ranging the agencies of the universe, andcreating the vegetables and animals of theearth; and the last and noblest earthlycreation, was man, from the dust of theground; and the most refined portion, was

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woman, from a rib of the man. Adam, withhis pure and lovely Eve, was placed in thegarden of delights, "to dress and keep it;"and as he had been created with no capacityfor self-government, the Heavenly Father,revealed to him a government, in obedienceto which he might live happily, but as apenalty for disobedience, his Creator toldhim that, in the day he transgressed, "heshould surely die." Gen. ii, 16. The devilpersuaded Eve that there was no force inlaw, and she was free to follow what seemedgood in her own eyes. Being deceived,she "was in the transgressions," and inconsequence of Adam's hearkening to thevoice of his wife, he likewise became a sin-ner. These previously innocent and purepersons, who had never experienced theleast pain or remorse, fell from their purityunder the curse of mortality. Their pun-ishment is thus expressed: "Unto thewoman he said, I will greatly multiply thysorrow, and thy conception, in sorrow thoushalt bring forth children; and thy desireshall be to thy husband, and he shall ruleover thee. And unto Adam he said, be-


cause thou hast hearkened unto the voice ofthy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of whichI commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt noteat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake;in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days ofthy life. Thorns also and thistles shall itbring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat theherb of the field. In the sweat of thy faceshalt thou eat bread, till thou return untothe ground; for out of it wast thou taken;for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thoureturn." Gen. iii, 16-19.

For their sins, "The Lord God sent themforth from the garden of Eden to till theground;" and placed a flaming sword toguard the way of the tree of life, to preventthem from eating the fruit thereof and be-coming eternal sinners.

Misfortunes were not staid at this sadcatastrophe. Cain, the first born of thisonce happy pair, from a feeling of envy,killed his brother Abel; and for his sin,was made a wanderer and traveler in theearth. About fifteen hundred years afterthe Creation, as men were multiplied in theearth, they so "corrupted their way" that

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Jehovah determined to destroy the wholerace, save the single family of Noah. Thisfaithful man, with his three sons, and theirwives, spent a hundred and twenty years inpreparations, — the ark was completed,—and the family entered it with "clean beastsand beasts that were not clean, and fowlsand every creeping thing upon the earth."Then "God broke up the fountains of thegreat deep, and the windows of heaven wereopened," and the rain poured down for thespace of forty days and forty nights, till thewater stood fifteen cubits above the highestmountains. "All that was on the dry landperished." At the end of a hundred andfifty days, the waters abated, and the arkrested on the mountains of Ararat. Aftera voyage of twelve months, Noah and hisfamily, with their flocks, went forth fromthe ark, and built an altar to the Lord, andGod blessed Noah and his sons, and said,"be fruitful and multiply and replenish theearth." Some two hundred years after theflood, the Heavenly Father called Abraham,and made to him two singularly great pro-mises; the first was, that his family should


become not only a great nation, but shouldcontinue an eternal monument of truth tothe world; and secondly that, out of thisnation, should one arise to save all whowould put their trust in Him. Hence Paulsays: "To Abraham were the promisesmade."

Abraham was the father of Isaac, andIsaac was the father of Jacob, who was thefather of the twelve patriarchs. Thesepatriarchs, in consequence of a grievousfamine in the land of Canaan, moved intoEgypt, and were made bondmen for thespace of four hundred years. During thisstate of bondage, the children of Israelwere greatly oppressed, and their cries andprayers ascended up to heaven. But Jacobdied, and Joseph, his son, who had beenthe agent in the hands of God, in preserv-ing his kindred7 from starvation, also died,being a hundred and ten years old. Beforehis death, however, he took an oath fromhis brethren, saying: "you shall carry upmy bones from hence." "His body wasembalmed and put into a coffin in Egypt."

Thus ends the first book of the Bible,

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and if the reader will examine it closely, hewill discover that it affords a very perfecthistory of our world for the space of twenty-three hundred years. This introduces us to

THE SECOND BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED

EXODUS.—The Title, though uninspired,gives the main idea of the book. Theword EXODUS, is composed of two Greekwords, ex, from, and odus, a way, andliterally means, a going out, or departure.

It opens with the birth of Moses, who, tocontravene a law of Egypt, requiring themale children of the Hebrews to be put todeath, was concealed by his mother threemonths, and when she saw the life of her-self and family was endangered by thisprocedure, "She took for him an ark ofbulrushes, and daubed it with slime andwith pitch, and put the child therein, andshe laid it in the flags by the river side."Ex. ii, 3.

When the king's daughter "came downto wash at the river, she saw the ark amongthe flags, and sent her maid to fetch it.""And when she had opened it, she saw the


child, and behold the babe wept." She de-termined to preserve it, and his mother wasbrought as nurse. This Moses was trainedup in all the learning of the Egyptians, andwhen he was about forty years old, he sawthe Egyptians imposing upon some of hisbrethren amongst the Hebrews, and he wasso exasperated, that he slew one of them.For this offense, he fled from the country,and "dwelt in the land of Midian," where,for his gallantry in assisting certain maidensto water their father's flock, he won theheart of Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel,priest of the country. At the end of fortyyears, being eighty years old, Jehovahmade known to him his determination todeliver the children of Israel from bondage,by speaking to him from a burning bush onMt. Horeb. With his brother Aaron, heassembled the elders of the Jewish nation,and acquainted them with the gracious de-sign of Heaven. Soon after, they had aninterview with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, andrequested permission for the people to holda feast to their God in the wilderness. Theking not only refused, but doubled their

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burdens. In answer to the prayer of Moses,Jehovah informed him that he would, "ridhim out of their bondage, and would redeemthe people with a stretched-out arm andwith great judgments." Ex. iii.

Then followed a series of notable miracles,called "the Plagues of Egypt;" and finallythe king being overcome—the first-born ofall his people being slain by the angel ofdeath, he consented to let the people ofGod go. On the night of the self-sameday, which terminated a period of 430years, after entering Egypt, 600fi00 adultIsraelites, "beside children, and a mixedmultitude also went up with them; andflocks and herds, even very much cattle."Ex. xii, 37, 38. They left the rich plainsof Goshen and traveled eastward in thedirection of the Red Sea. They journeyedday and night, and "the Lord went beforethem by day in a pillar of cloud to leadthem by the way, and by night, in a pillarof fire to give them light." Ex. xiii, 17.The design of Jehovah was evidently toconduct them to the most difficult place forcrossing the sea; for he said: "I will be


honored upon Pharaoh and upon all hishosts, that the Egyptians may know that Iam the Lord." "With this object, they ap-proached the sea between vast mountains.Ex. xiv, 2-4. No sooner had Pharaohlearned that his slaves had fled, and werein perils on the sea-shore, than he sum-moned his troops and set out in hot pursuit."He overtook them encamping by the sea,beside Pi-hahiroth before Baal-zephon."Here, "The angel of God which went beforethe camp of Israel, removed and went be-hind, and the pillar of the cloud went frombefore their face, and stood behind them,and it came between the camp of the Egyp-tians and the camp of Israel, and it was acloud and darkness to them, but it gavelight by night to these; so that the onecame not near the other all the night."Ex. xiv, 19, 20.

Here it was, the whole congregation weptmost bitterly, and even the great heart ofMoses began to sink within him, and in hisfear and bitterness of soul, he said to thepeople, "Stand still and see the salvationof the Lord." But the Lord said unto

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Moses, "Wherefore criest thou unto me?Speak unto the children of Israel, that theygo forward. But lift thou up the rod, andstretch out thy hand over the sea, anddivide it. And Moses stretched out hishand over the sea; and the Lord causedthe sea to go back by a strong east wind allthat night, and made the sea dry land, andthe waters were divided. And the childrenof Israel went into the midst of the sea uponthe dry ground; and the waters were a wallunto them on their right-hand and on theirleft. Ex. xiv. The Egyptians pursued afterthem into the sea, and "The Lord took offtheir chariot-wheels, that they draw themheavily; and they said, Let us flee fromthe face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth forthem." The Lord commanded Moses to"stretch out his hand over the sea, that thewaters may come again upon the Egyptians."He did so, and "the sea returned to hisstrength, when the morning appeared, andthe waters returned and covered the cha-riots and the horsemen, and all the host ofPharaoh that came into the sea after them;there remained not so much as one of them;


thus the Lord saved Israel that day out ofthe hand of the Egyptians; and the peoplefeared the Lord, and his servant Moses."

"Then sang Moses and the children ofIsrael unto the Lord, saying, I. will singunto the Lord, for he hath triumphed glo-riously; the horse and his rider hath hethrown into the sea. The Lord is mystrength and song, and he is become mysalvation; he is my God, and I will prepareHim a habitation." Thus baptized intoMoses by the cloud and sea, the children ofIsrael journeyed to Mt. Sinai, where theLord said: "Ye have seen what I havedone unto the Egyptians, and how I haveyou on eagles' wings, and brought you tomyself. Now if you will obey my voice,indeed, and keep my covenant, then youshall be a peculiar treasure unto me aboveall people. And you shall be unto me akingdom of priests and a holy nation."And the people said: "All that the Lordhath spoken, we will do."

From the mountain, the Lord deliveredthe law for the children of Israel on two

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tables of stone. In addition to the ten com-mandments, He gave fall regulations, con-cerning property, life and all the conductof the nation. In these laws, Jehovahdirected the order of worship, and autho-rized Moses to make a tabernacle in whichalone was his service to be performed. Thework was completed under the direction ofBezaleel and Aholiab, men who were "wise-hearted," and "filled with the spirit ofGod."

When the tabernacle was finished, all thevessels and furniture were placed in it, asthe Lord directed, and "A cloud coveredthe tent of the congregation, and the gloryof the Lord filled the tabernacle." Thus itwas owned as God's house; and "the cloudwas on the tabernacle by day, and fire wason it by night, in the sight of all the houseof Israel, throughout all their journeys."And thus closes Exodus, the second bookof Moses, all the contents of which are in-timately connected with the trials of thefamily of Abraham, and, indeed, the firstchurch of the Living God, on earth.


THE THIRD BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED

LEVITICUS.—In the Hebrew canon, it iscalled bayekra, and signifies, to call; per-haps, from the first verse of the book, inwhich it is said, "The Lord called untoMoses, and spoke unto him out of the taber-nacle."

The subject-matter pertains, mainly, toinstructions of the priests, the sons of Levi.

It contains fuller statements and develop-ments of the tabernacle-worship than is,found in the book of Exodus. It begins,indeed, by describing the worship itself, andthe first seven chapters are devoted chieflyto the Jewish sacrifices. In the eighth andninth chapters, we have directions for con-secrating Aaron and his sons to the priest'soffice. As we proceed through the book,holy and unholy things are minutely de-scribed.

The great feast of Atonement, formed thecentral point of the nation's sanctity; for byit, all the people were reconciled to God.The sixteenth chapter ends with this decla-ration: "And this shall be an everlasting

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statute unto you, to make an atonement forthe children of Israel, for all their sins oncea year."

Most of. the other chapters, to the close ofthe book, are intended to guard the priestsand the people against the influence of allforeign religions, and the proper motives forseparating themselves from other nations,are clearly, and most forcibly set forth.

The details, however, are full of interest,and we would urge upon the reader theimportance of studying the entire book withcare.

NUMBERS, or the fourth book of Moses,gets its title from the fact, that, the childrenof Israel were numbered in the wildernessfor the purpose of separating the. Levitesfrom such as had to bear arms. In He-brew, it is called, be-midbar, which means,in the wilderness.

Many of the most important events whichoccurred with the Jews during their fortyyears in the desert, are faithfully describedin this book, and the narrative conducts usto "The plains of Moab by Jordan nearJericho."


DEUTERONOMY, is the fifth and last bookof Moses, and the title indicates, "a secondpublishing of the Law." It is a rehearsalof all that God had spoken by Moses, andcontains, in addition, many earnest exhor-tations, and sublime prophecies. "WhenMoses wrote it, he was anxious to look tothe future — the world was fading from hisvision — and, indeed, it may be called hisfarewell address to the people who hadfollowed him during his forty years' journeyfrom Egypt.

He ascended the mountain of Nebo, oppo-site Jericho, to the top of Pisgah, from whosesummit he could view the long-promisedland. Although he was a hundred andtwenty years old, "his eye was not dim,nor his natural force abated." Here hedied, and was buried in one of the valleys.The children of Israel wept for him thirtydays. The balance of the eighteen histori-cal books of the Old Testament are equallyplain; still the valuable instructions con-tained in each, can be acquired only bydiligent and prayerful study.

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This division ends with the history offaithful Job, who, though forsaken by hisfriends—deprived of his property, and mostthat seemed dear, could exclaim: "TheLord gave and the Lord hath taken away,blessed be the name of the Lord. In allthis Job sinned not, nor charged God fool-ishly."

As previously intimated, the second divi-sion of the Old Testament, is composedOf SIXTEEN PROPHETICAL BOOKS.

An exposition of these, in the generalapplication of the term, would be an ardu-ous undertaking. Indeed, it is not suitablefor a work intended, mainly, for such as arebut beginners in the Heavenly science.

Our object will be fully accomplished, bybarely calling attention to the character ofthe prophets, and the proper idea of a pre-diction.

Prophets were not necessarily lawgivers,though Moses was both a lawgiver and aprophet. Most of them were men inspiredby the spirit of God, to rouse a slumberingnation to a sense of clanger. We usually,


however, understand by a prophet, one whowas endowed with power to foretell withinfallible certainty, future events.

These predictions of events, made hun-dreds of years before they came to pass,prove themselves miraculous in their accom-plishment.

The prophecies concerning the preserva-tion of the Jewish nation, are regarded asa perpetual miracle in favor of inspiration.The greatest wonder in the whole subject,consists in the well established fact that,the most unreasonable and incongruousevents which were foretold, have been ful-filled to the very letter.

Many of the prophecies from Isaiah toMalachi have had their completion; butthere are others in reference to the Jews,particularly, and the final triumphs ofChrist's kingdom, yet to be accomplished.

They cannot be studied as simple narra-tives, for their style, in places, from beinghighly metaphorical, approaches very nearlyto poetical composition. Yet most personswill derive signal advantage from perusingand carefully studying the prophecies.

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THE POETRY OF THE BIBLE, OR OUR THIRDDIVISION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

While it is admitted that, most of thebooks of the Old Testament contain pas-sages highly poetical, all agree that thePsalms of David, Proverbs, Ecclesiastesand Song of Solomon, and Lamentations ofJeremiah, are highly poetical. Our adviceon this division will be brief.

The word PSALMS, is derived from theGreek Psalmai, and it from Psalto, to strikea chord.

David and his associates chanted, or sungthese compositions, to stringed and otherinstruments of music.

The principal idea of PROVERBS, is takenfrom the meaning of the word, similitudeor comparison; and the reader will observethat, the object of the writer, was to givepractical and authoritative maxims, in highlyfigurative language.

The word ECCLESIASTES, implies a composi-tion for the whole congregation of the Lord.

THE SONG OF SOLOMON or CANTICLES,signifies, the song of songs, which implies


the superior beauty and excellence of thepoem.

THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. Thisbook is sometimes called TEARS, "in allu-sion to the mournful character of the work,of which one would conceive," says BishopLowth, "that every letter was written witha tear,—every word the sound of a brokenheart." No doubt, it was written by theprophet in the bitterest anguish of his soul,to express the mournful condition of himselfand his people in consequence of transgres-sion.

Our limits forbid a further examinationof the first division of the Bible, and weclose by enjoining it upon the reader, toendeavor to get the chief thought, or subject-matter, in examining these most ancient,sacred, and valuable compositions of an-tiquity.

THE NEW TESTAMENT.The New Testament contains the revela-

tions of God to the world by his Son, throughthe apostles, and faithful and inspiredmen, chosen for the purpose of makingknown his will to the nations. It will be

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remembered that, the Old Testament was in-tended mainly for the Jews; but a little overeighteen hundred and fifty years ago, "Godsent forth his son, made of a woman, madeunder the law, to redeem them that wereunder the law," (Gal. iv, 4); that both Jewsand Gentiles might receive the adoption ofsons by faith in Christ Jesus.

By him, "a new and living way" wasset forth, and all people, tongues and tribeswere invited to walk therein, says the apos-tle: "For he is our peace, who hath madeboth one, and hath .broken down the middlewall of partition between us; having abol-ished in his flesh, the enmity, even the lawof commandments contained in ordinances;for to make in himself of twain, one newman (or church) so making peace; and thathe might reconcile both unto God in onebody by the cross, having slain the enmitythereby, and came and preached peace toyou (Gentiles) who were afar off, and tothem (Jews) who were nigh. For throughhim we both have access, by one spirit untothe Father. Now, therefore, you (Gentiles)are no more strangers and foreigners, but

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fellow-citizens with the saints and of thehousehold of God; and are built upon thefoundation of the apostles and prophets,Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. In whom all the building, fitlyframed together, groweth unto a holy tem-ple in the Lord; in whom you also arebuilded together for a habitation of Godthrough the spirit." Eph. ii, 14-22.

Inasmuch as our reading and investiga-tions are always interesting in proportionto the importance of the subject we are exa-mining, we should endeavor to get a clearidea of the Christian institution.

Primitively, apostles and other inspiredmen, delivered whole discourses in regardto "the kingdom of God, and the name ofJesus Christ;" but if a minister in the nine-teenth century were to select such a subjectfor a sermon, his auditors would be greatlysurprised. Yet the kingdom of God, orchurch of Christ, is the burden of the NewTestament. God promised in the Old Testa-ment times, that, he would "set up a king-dom that should stand forever." John theBaptist, said: "The kingdom of heaven is

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at hand." Jesus our Saviour, exhorted to"Pray, thy kingdom come," and whenPeter made the confession of the leadingand center truth of Christianity, that "Jesuswas the Christ the Son of the living God,"he announced that, "On this rock"—con-fession—" I will build my church, and thegates of hell shall not prevail against it."This new kingdom, which was not "of thisworld," was always mentioned as "coming,"as being "at hand," till the Holy Spirit ac-knowledged the body at Jerusalem on theday of Pentecost.

Previously to this day, we have no men-tion of persons being added to, or joiningthe Church—all was before preparation —the materials for the spiritual building were"made ready" by John, and by Jesus Christand his apostles. But no sooner had thespirit descended and the three thousandadded to the disciples, than "the Lordadded to the church daily the saved;" oras it reads in our version, "such as shouldbe saved." Acts ii, 47. Thus was thekingdom established amongst the Jews,and it soon spread through Samaria, and


some seven years afterward, it was set upamong the Gentiles at the house of Cor-nelius.

We rejoice also to know that, for morethan eighteen hundred years, this kingdomhas stood as a city on a hill, with doorsopen to all who would enter the fold of God.The young reader should understand veryclearly that, no one can enjoy the rich bless-ings of this spiritual empire, who refuses alle-giance to the king. The Saviour comparedthe kingdom to a vineyard, and said theMaster went out to hire laborers, early, atthe sixth, ninth, and eleventh hour, but thecondition of service in every instance was,to "go into the vineyard." Whoever willbe the disciple of Jesus, must renouncehimself, his own wisdom and plans, and allthe plans of men, and take up his cross andfollow him.

Christ invites the weary and heavy ladento "come to Him," to "learn of Him," andto "take His yoke" in order to have rest.

The glory of the Christian religion is itstranscendent spirituality over all other reli-gions. The Jewish institutions failed to

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purify:—" There was a remembrance of sinmade every year"—"It was impossible forthe blood of bulls and goats to take awaysin," but Christ, in entering into the holyplace by his own blood, has obtained "eter-nal redemption for us," and we now havethe promise of the Father that, "Our sinsand iniquities shall be remembered againstus no more." In this spiritual institu-tion, the eternal life and immortality were"brought to light," of which the worldhad remained profoundly ignorant for fourthousand years.

It is by means of this Church, God canbe honorable and honored in saving allsinners who will come to Him through themediator, Christ Jesus. "There is no othername by which we can be saved."

Eternal honor in the future depends uponthe acknowledgment of Christ's authority;and he that refuses is threatened with ban-ishment from the presence of the Lord, andthe glory of his power.

Of the salvation by Jesus Christ, thereare no books which directly and authorita-tively treat, save those in the New Testa-


ment. We are happy also to know thesesacred productions, constitute an infalliblesystem or creed, and forever settle everycontroversy.

It may be some satisfaction for the youngreader to understand, that these books wereall written during the first century of theChristian era, and have afforded the onlyspiritual light which the world has enjoyedsince the apostle John died. We are for-bidden to anticipate or look for other light.Indeed, the very fact of praying for, or pro-fessing to receive additional information withregard to the spiritual world, is positive evi-dence that we are neither satisfied or pleasedwith what we have, and what God intendedshould be the only light in the pathwayof life. With these introductory remarksand plain statements, we proceed to examine

THE DIVISIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.There are in this purest volume of earth,

twenty-seven books or treatises, each ofwhich, was written for a specified object,and from their matter, they may be dividedinto four classes, or chapters.

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1st. THE GOSPEL.2d. THE BOOK OF CONVERSIONS.3d. THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE.4th. THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS.

We hope the kind reader will not con-clude that, our divisions are novel or un-meaning. A little patience in examiningthe volume, will enable the inquirer to seethat, these have been made by the sacredwriters themselves, and, moreover, that thevery matter, and subjects, not only suggest,but demand them. We will examine theseheads in order.

I. THE GOSPEL.Superficial readers, who expect to find the

Gospel of Christ scattered promiscuouslythrough the whole of the Bible, will, not belikely to find it anywhere. Christian peo-ple regard all the Bible as the word of God,but all the word of God, is not the Gospelof Jesus Christ, who was not born till theyear 4004. The history of the flood, forinstance, in the days of good Noah, thoughtrue, contains not the Gospel; neither dowe find it in the Law, the Prophets, or


Psalms in detail. To be sure, referencewas made by divers Old Testament writers,to things which were to occur and whichhave since taken place, and which, by theNew Testament writers, were called Gospel.On this point the apostle Paul informs usthat, "Unto us was the Gospel preached aswell as unto them, but the word preacheddid not profit them, not being mixedwith faith in them that heard it." Heb.iv, 2.

This translation does not give the apostle'smeaning with sufficient fairness. In theoriginal, there is no article in connectionwith the word Gospel, and the following isthe literal reading. "For unto us wereglad tidings preached, as well as to them."Again Peter tells us, (1 Peter iv, 6); "Goodnews,"—not, "the Gospel," as in our ver-sion—was preached to the dead, that is, tothe antediluvians who are now dead; butthis 'good news,' doubtless, reached themthrough the preaching of righteous Noah,before their death.

To the Galatians, Paul says: "The Scrip-tures foreseeing that God would justify the

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heathen through faith, preached before theGospel (literally translated Gospel) untoAbraham, saying, In thee shall all nationsbe blessed." Gal. iii, 8. With these Scrip-tures before us, it is quite apparent, that thepromise to Abraham of a coming Saviourwas denominated good news, glad tidings,concerning a Deliverer—Gospel. The stu-dent of the Bible will also discover, thatthis was a prospective Gospel, or a Gospelonly in promise. Scores of the faithful,from the time the promise of the Messiahwas made to Abraham, anxiously looked foran illustrious person to appear, as a kingand preserver of the nation. The announce-ment that such an one would come, wasstyled, Gospel, or glad tidings to be realizedin the future. The whole thought is beau-tifully expressed by Paul, in his letter tothe Hebrews. In speaking of the faithfulof old, he said: "These all died in faith,not having received the promises, but hav-ing seen them afar off, and were persuadedby them, and embraced them, and confessedthat, they were strangers and pilgrims onthe earth." Heb. xi, 13.


We see then, in what sense the Gospelwas preached to the people before the birthof Christ, and we are now fully prepared toconnect all the facts of the Gospel of oursalvation, with Him, who "came downfrom heaven not to do his own will, but thewill of Him that sent Him."

It may be proper to add that, the wholeGospel in all its facts and practical bear-ings, was not, and could not be preached,till after the resurrection of our Lord fromthe dead; and, indeed, till after the ascen-sion, and the descent of the Holy Spirit onthe day of Pentecost.

The word Gospel implies glad tidings,good news; as appears from the announce-ment of the angel to the shepherd, whowere vigilantly watching their flocks onthe Judean hills, the night in which theSaviour was born. "The angel said untothem, fear not: for, behold, I bring youglad tidings of great joy which shall be toall people. For unto you is born this dayin the city of David, a Saviour, who isChrist the Lord." Luke ii, 11, 12.

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This Gospel is" construed by many learnedmen, to mean, God's spell, means or power,to bring the erring back to their Father'shouse; but the apostle gives concisely thefacts of the Gospel to the Corinthians. Hesays: "Moreover, brethren, I declared untoyou the Gospel which I preached unto you,which also, you have received, and whereinyou stand.

"By which also you are saved, if youkeep in memory what I preached unto you,unless you have believed in vain. For Idelivered unto you, first of all, that which Ialso received; how that Christ died for oursins according to the Scriptures; and thathe was buried; and that he rose again thethird day according to the Scriptures."1 Cor. xv, 1-4.

Whoever reads to profit, will readily dis-cover that, the Gospel "which he preachedand in which the Corinthians "stood," andby which they awere saved," containedthree very clear and distinct items:

1st. "Christ died for our sins accordingto the Scriptures."


2d. "He urns buried"3d. "He was raised from the dead the

third day according to the Scriptures."In all the discourses of the inspired am-

bassadors of the Saviour, after his resurrec-tion, these were the prominent and reliablefacts, preached for the conversion of men toGod. Moreover, every infidel that has as-sailed the religion of Jesus Christ, has madehis attacks at this impregnable fortress.That Jesus of Nazareth lived in Judea atthe time reported by his witnesses, andthat he died by the authority of a warrantfrom Pontius Pilate, the Roman governorof the province of Judea, even the ene-mies, in all time since, have freely admitted;and consequently, the only point in contro-versy to fully establish Christianity is, didJesus Christ rise from the dead as reported?That it is against nature and contrary to allthe logic and philosophy of men, we freelyadmit; but the very admission—and nonewill refuse to make it—that man did nothappen on the earth, but is the creation ofOne who is above creation, concedes allthat the Christian religion demands. Grant

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that God is, and the miraculous delivery ofour Saviour from the tomb, is also admitted.True, we have not demonstrable evidenceof the resurrection, and we should not askit, for this would be walking "by sight andnot by faith." We are to believe that Christrose from the dead upon the authority ofmen who sacrificed all worldly honor anddied, not for opinions, or strong persuasion,but for telling the truth in regard to whatthey saw and heard of the Lord.

In the great commission, the chosen ofheaven, were commanded to preach thisGospel; and no one has charged them withunfaithfulness. They not only preached,"Jesus Christ and him crucified," but suchas believed, "with all the heart unto righte-ousness, made the confession with the mouthunto salvation."

In the Gospel of our salvation, we ob-serve nothing resembling a party system ofreligion, a partisan creed, or any importantfact which can be misunderstood. Thoughsimple in its statements, there is a majestyin every declaration which cannot fail to fillthe soul with awe and devotion. But the


main object of our inquiry, after settingforth plainly the meaning, matter, and in-tention of the Gospel, is to ascertain in whatbooks it is contained.

We have often heard clerks, justices ofthe peace, and lawyers speak of swearingmen "on the four Gospels," or "Holy Evan-gelists," meaning neither all the Bible norall of the New Testament. When one issworn on these four books, without referenceto any other portion, it is agreed the personhas taken a Gospel oath.

While we might mention with due re-spect, that the phrase, "Four Gospels," isnot critically correct, it is a most singularand significant truth that, men who speakof the Gospel with an untheological intent,are usually more accurate in their style,than many sticklers for party systems.

In the early ages of the Church, thisGospel of the Son of God, not really "fourGospels," but this single everlasting Gospel,written by the four servants of God, Matthew,Mark, Luke, and John, formed a separateand independent volume. All acquaintedwith church history, are aware that, in pri-

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mitive times, these books were preserved ina distinct form for the purpose of giving themost perspicuous conception of their char-acter. We believe it would be far betterfor the present generation, to study the Gos-pel set forth, disconnected from all the otherbooks of the Bible.

The plan would at least save the youngmind from much confusion on the subjectof searching the Scriptures. Irenaeus, anancient father of the Church, speaks of theGospel as "the one four-formed, or four-sided Gospel." But can we be mistaken inour position, that these books contain, em-phatically, the Gospel in all its fullness anddetails, which cannot be found elsewhere?

It will be in keeping with our design,and we hope, with the design of the read-er, to briefly notice the contents of thesebooks.

Matthew opens his narrative with thegenealogy of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Hetraces His family from Abraham to Joseph,the husband of Mary, who was" the motherof our Lord, through a space of nearly twothousand years.


Luke, in bis genealogical table, beginswith Jesus, whom he calls the son of Heli,and traces back to Adam the Son of God.In a part of these family tables, there seemsto be a contradiction, which, perhaps, willdisappear, if we admit with Dr. Barrett,Olshansen and others, that Matthew relatesthe history of Joseph through his real fatherJacob, and Luke, gives the history of Mary,the mother of our Lord, through Heli, whowas the father-in-law of Joseph. Both nar-ratives then, are correct. Jacob was thefather of Joseph after the flesh, but asJoseph was not, in fact, the father of Jesus,he was acknowledged the lawful father,because he was the husband of Mary, thedaughter of Heli. They both unite atDavid, and one traces through Solomon,and the other through Nathan. This briefstatement seems to us, to remove the dis-crepancy. But there is perfect agreement,that our Lord was born in Bethlehem, nearJerusalem, according to the prophecy.

Matthew details the conception and birthof the Saviour, as follows: "When as hismother Mary was espoused to Joseph,

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before they came together, she was foundwith child of the Holy Spirit." The matterbeing explained to Joseph's satisfaction, byan angel, he "took unto him his wife;""and she brought forth her first-born son,and he called his name Jesus." Matt. i,18-25. Soon after his birth, Jesus, in con-sequence of Herod seeking his life, wastaken by Joseph and Mary into Egypt,where he remained until the death of Herod,when an angel directed Joseph to "take theyoung child again into the land of Israel."And he arose and took the young child andhis mother, and came into the land of Israel.But when he heard that, Archelaus didreign in Judea, in the room of his fatherHerod, he was afraid to go thither, and heturned aside into the parts of Galilee, and hecame and dwelt in a city called Nazareth.

We have no further account of his child-hood by any of the writers, except Luke.He informs us that, "When he was twelveyears old, they went up to Jerusalem afterthe custom of the feast. And when theyhad fulfilled the days, as they returned, thechild Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem,


and Joseph and His mother knew not of it.""At the end of three days they found Himin the temple, sitting in the midst of thedoctors, both hearing them, and askingthem questions. -And all that heard Him,were astonished at His understanding andanswers. And when they saw Him, theywere amazed: and his mother said untoHim, Son, why hast thou thus dealt withus? Behold thy father and I have soughtthee sorrowing. And He said, Know yenot, that I must be about my Father's busi-ness?"

"And He went down with them andcame to Nazareth, and was subject untothem; but His mother kept all these say-ings in her heart. And Jesus increased inwisdom and stature and in favor with Godand man." Luke iii, 41-52. We have noadditional information on the subject, tillHe was about thirty years of age; but beforeproceeding with the personal narrative ofour Lord, it would be well for the readerto examine the character and mission ofJohn the Baptizer, or Baptist, as the wordis erroneously given in our version.

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This good man and prophet of God, wasa relation of our Saviour, and was sent be-fore Him, "To prepare his ways; to givethe knowledge of salvation by the remissionof sins. To give light to them that sat indarkness and in the shadow of death, toguide their feet in the way of peace." Lukei, 76-79.

This John was "clothed with camel'shair, and wore a leathern girdle about hisloins, and his meat was locusts and wildhoney." He went crying through the wil-derness of Judea and along the banks ofthe Jordan, "Repent ye, for the kingdomof heaven is at hand." "He was the voiceof one crying in the wilderness, prepareye the way of the Lord, make his pathsstraight."

The effort of this simple, yet earnestpreaching, was most wonderful, as appears,from the narratives. Mark says: "Johndid baptize in the wilderness, and preachthe baptism of repentance for the remissionof sins.

"And there went out to him all the landof Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were


all baptized of him in the river Jordan,confessing their sins." When John sawthat, his ministry was becoming danger-ously popular, he denounced his flatterersas a "Generation of vipers," and demandedof them fruits as evidence of their repent-ance.

He informed the Jews, that, "One so farabove him, that he was not worthy to stoopdown and untie his shoes, would soon comeand baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire."He said to them: "The ax is laid unto theroot of the trees; therefore, every tree whichbringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn downand cast into the fire."

" The wheat," or good, were to be takeninto the garner; but the chaff he was topunish with a baptism of "unquenchablefire." At thirty years of age, Jesus wasbaptized of John in the river Jordan, andHe "went up straightway out of the water;and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him,and He saw the Spirit of God, descendinglike a dove and lighting upon Him. Andlo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is mybeloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

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Matt. iii, 17. Then Jesus was tempted ofSatan forty days in the wilderness; andwhen his temptations were ended, He calledtwelve disciples whom He ordained andsent forth to preach his approaching king-dom. These apostles were forbidden to goto the Gentiles, but were to confine theirlabors to "the lost sheep of the house ofIsrael." When the disciples had sufficientlymultiplied, he chose seventy, and sent themout, two and two, to preach that the king-dom was at hand. Signs and wondersfollowed the Messiah's labors to such amarvelous extent, that when some of hisdisciples returned to Him, and reportedwhat they had done, he said: "I saw Satanas lightning fall from heaven." In all ourLord's travels, his object was the good ofmen. "The blind eyes were opened, thedeaf ears were unstopped, the lame leaped forjoy, the tongue of the dumb sang the highpraises of God, and better than all, the poorheard the Gospel's joyful sound. Mosthappy was he pronounced who was notoffended at the Lord's miracles and teach-ing."


This "carpenter" and son of a carpenter,fearlessly reproved sin in high places, re-gardless of sneers and persecutions. Hecame on earth, indeed, to wage eternal waragainst vice, and while he threatened de-struction, to the hard hearted, he graciouslyheld out the scepter of pardon and peace toall who would come to God by Him.

Though He never did' harm, neither wasguile found on his lips, He "was despisedand rejected of men," and was, emphatic-ally, "a man of sorrows and acquaintedwith grief." Earthly possessions He hadnone. "The foxes have holes," said He,"and the birds of the air have nests, but theSon of man hath no place to lay his head."This is He, who had been "rich in heaven,but for our sakes became poor, that wethrough his poverty might be rich." He"came down from heaven not to do his ownwill, but the will of his Father who sentHim." Still He advocated no violent mea-sures to render his institutions victorious."A bruised reed" was not to be broken, thesmoking flax was not to be quenched, andneither was his heavenly voice to be "heard

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in the streets or upon the house tops," tocarry his kingdom forward to honor andglory. His mission to earth was one oflove, and his design was to subdue the stoutheart and stubborn will, by acts of unparal-leled kindness.

The meekness and condescension of theMessiah, surpassed that of all others. Heentered the haunts of poverty and vice,with remedies from above, and wept withthe afflicted sisters at the grave of a de-ceased brother. That he was a prophetsuperior to all who had preceded Him, isapparent from his unostentatious predic-tions in regard to his death, and resurrec-tion,—the destruction of Jerusalem, andthe overthrow of the Jewish nation.

Yet He was doomed to the cross, not forhis own, but the sins of others.

After laboring thus, night and day, formore than three years, he was betrayed tohis enemies by a false friend. In his trial,truth was trampled in the dust—justice wasscoffed at—false witnesses swore away hislife, and his condemnation was extortedfrom the governor of Judea. Jesus was


condemned to die; he stood alone in mockrobes, forsaken and friendless, yet he mur-mured not. He "came to seek and savethe lost," and his own precious blood wasto be the price of our redemption. To Cal-vary, near Jerusalem, his enemies led Him,and while he gazed upon his timid, yettearful followers, He said: "You daughtersof Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but foryourselves and your children; for if they dothese things in the green tree, what shallbe done in the dry?" He died between twothieves; but the insult to heaven was somonstrous that, the sun vailed himself innight's thick darkness; the rocks werebroken about Jerusalem, and the vail of thetemple on Zion's hill was rent in twain fromtop to bottom. Jesus died. His mourningand heart-stricken friends, begged his bodyof Pilate, and placed it in Joseph's newtomb. A guard of iron-hearted soldierswas placed at the sepulcher, to prevent hisdisciples from taking away his body, andreporting, as his murderers pretended, thatHe had risen from the dead, as He had saidHe would do.

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The soldiers stood firm the first andsecond day, but on the third morning, atGod's majesty, they cowardly fell as deadmen,—the angel rolled away the stone fromthe mouth of the sepulcher, but he was notwithin. The Jews paid the soldiers toreport that, while they slept his disciplesstole away his body. Such is the absurdand incredible testimony, which must bereceived, or the world must confess, thatGod raised his beloved Son from the tomb.

He appeared first to Mary Magdalene inthe Garden, then to the eleven, next to"above five hundred who saw him at once,"and last of all, to Paul, who was adoptedout of due time.

He ate, drank, and conversed with hisdisciples, who were to be his witnesses tothe nations. When He assembled them onthe mount of Olives, to deliver his last andgreat commission for the salvation of sin-ners, He said: "All authority in heavenand in earth is given to me, go ye, there-fore, teach all nations, baptizing them intothe name of the Father, and of the Son,and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them


(the baptized) to observe all things whatso-ever I have commanded you, and lo, I amwith you always, (to confirm your word)even to the conclusion of the age."

Mark informs us, that "They went forth,and preached everywhere, the Lord workingwith them, and confirming the word withsigns following."

Such is the Gospel of Christ, written byMatthew, Mark, Luke and John, and alltrue ministers of the word, have preachedand relied upon these facts for the conver-sion of the world.

The reader will please notice that, theobject of the Gospel is to produce faith inthem that hear it; and we may add, theeffect of this faith of Christ, is to work anentire revolution of the affections and feel-ings of the soul toward God and man.

" These things are written," said the be-loved John, "that ye might believe, thatJesus is the Christ, the Son of God, andthat believing ye might have life throughhis name."

When our object is to convince men ofthe truth, we are to preach, "Christ and

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Him crucified," with the fullest confidencethat the means will accomplish the enddesigned.

SECOND DIVISION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.The Booh of Conversions.

While the myriads of the honest sons anddaughters of earth, old as well as young, inevery age from the apostles to the present,would have freely given worlds, had theypossessed them, for the plain and infallibletreatise on the subject of becoming Chris-tians, owing to the great confusion that hasprevailed in reading the Scriptures, few,comparatively, have found it. Such a work,however, God has graciously given to theworld, through his Son. This, in our ver-sion, is called

"THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES."The apostles acting under the commission

of our Saviour, preached the Gospel as theSpirit gave them "utterance;" when the peo-ple heard with understanding, they turnedto God, and by submitting to Jesus Christin the act of baptism, were constituted heirs


of God and joint heirs with our Lord JesusChrist. It was the province of Luke, thephysician, to attend the apostles' adminis-trations of the Gospel, assisting in everyneedful work, and when aliens became obe-dient to the faith, he, with the utmost careand impartiality, recorded the facts con-nected with the conversions, and gave avolume to the world completely adapted tothe exigencies of the whole race.

It would be proper, furthermore, to sug-gest, that this book, also throws much lightupon the planting of churches, the appoint-ment of officers, and their general growthin grace and the knowledge of the truth. Afew brief details, will not only make themain point plain, but leave its truth beyonddispute.

In the first chapter, Luke rehearses theprominent facts in the ministry of John theBaptist; the ascension of our Lord fromMt. Olivet; the assemblage of the hundredand twenty at Jerusalem, in expectation ofthe Holy Spirit, and the appointment ofMatthias to the place from which Judas, bytransgression, fell.

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The second chapter opens with the de-scent of the Holy Spirit in the day of Pen-tecost, upon the waiting disciples; theastonished condition of the multitude,—their scoffs and wild conjectures in regardto its import; the preaching of the firstsermon by Peter, in obedience to the newcommission; its convincing and quickeninginfluence on them that heard—their cry,"What shall we do?" the answer of theinspired Peter,—"Repent and be baptizedevery one of you, in the name of JesusChrist, for the remission of sins;" theirgladly receiving the word, and being bap-tized; their continuance in the apostles'teaching; in the breaking of bread in prayers,and fellowship after their submission; and,finally, the establishment of the Church andthe additions of the saved to it. Unlessthe student of the Christian religion, shouldmaster this chapter, there is little hope ofsuccess in the balance of the book. Thedetails relate chiefly to the introduction ofa new era in the moral and intellectualworld. The Holy Spirit which was to guidethe embassadors of the recently crowned


King, was sent clown. Peter, to whom thekeys for opening the kingdom and neworder of worship, stood up in the name ofhis Master, to give the laws which were to"go forth out of Zion, and the word of theLord from Jerusalem," and all the condi-tions of redemption were new. Throughhim the people heard the voice of Jehovah—were cut to the heart,—convinced by thewords of the spirit in their hearts, he com-manded them, first, to renounce their evilways, and be baptized by Christ's authority,in order to the enjoyment of the profferedpardon. They that gladly heard, wereobedient, and they thus placed themselvesunder the administration of the Prince ofPeace.

The third chapter is little more than arepetition of the second. The lame manwas healed; the people again assembled;Peter preached the Gospel tidings; com-manded them to "Repent and be converted,that, their sins might be blotted out, whenthe times of refreshing shall come from thepresence of the Lord." "And the numberof men that believed, was about five thou-

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sand." The fourth chapter is but the con-clusion of the third, with the additional itemthat, "The multitude of them that believed,were of one heart and one soul," (iv, 32).

In the fifth chapter, is recorded the apos-tasy of Ananias with his wife Sapphira,and the terrible judgment of the Lord fortheir disobedience. Still it is said: "Be-lievers were added to the Lord, multitudesboth of men and women."

We have also in this chapter the begin-ning of persecutions against the disciples ofthe meek and lowly Jesus. The sixthchapter introduces the subject of the divi-sion of labor among the servants of God, inthe appointment of seven deacons to supplythe wants of the needy. "The word ofGod," steadily, "increased, the number ofthe disciples multiplied in Jerusalem, and agreat company of the priests were obedientto the faith."

In the seventh, we have the address anddeath of Stephen, the first martyr for Christ.

In the eighth, we have a history of Phil-ip's preaching in Samaria, and "Whenthey believed Philip preaching the things


concerning the kingdom of God and thename of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,both men and women," (Acts viii, 12); alsothe conversion of Simon, the magician, withhis apostasy for "thinking that the gift ofGod could be purchased with money;" andthe conversion of the Ethiopian noblemen.

The ninth, contains the conversion ofSaul of Tarsus; the tenth,, that of Cornelius,and the introduction of the Gospel amongthe Gentiles.

The eleventh, is a repetition of the tenth,in a different form, with the addition of"the disciples being called Christians firstin Antioch." In this strain we mightcontinue through the whole twenty-eightchapters, with similar results.

The Gospel was preached—the people, be-lieved—and in obedience became Christians;churches were planted, and nourished insound doctrine, and thus confirmed in thetruth. But at every place, persecutionraged, and the disciples willingly sufferedfor the name of the Lord.

Remember, gentle reader, that when youshall have finished this book, nothing more

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can be found upon the subject of conversionto God; but should you be satisfied withthe acknowledged instructions of the HolySpirit, you will enjoy not only all the lightthe world possesses on this point, but a suf-ficiency to make you wise unto the salvationpromised in Christ.

THIRD DIVISION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.The Booh of Discipline, Morality, Piety,

Purity of Life and Manners.Placed after the Acts of the Apostles, the

reader will please notice twenty-one Epistles,or Christians' letters. Fourteen were writ-ten by Paul, one by James, two by Peter,three by John, and one by Jude. Someof these letters were either written to parti-cular churches, some to Christians scatteredthroughout certain sections of country, ordispersed abroad, and others to individualdisciples.

The manner in which they were ad-dressed, shows very clearly for whom theywere written. For instance, Paul, in hisfirst letter, writes, "To all that be in Rome,beloved of God, called to be saints: grace


to you, and peace from God our Father andthe Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. i, 7.

The first Corinthian letter, he commencesthus: "Unto the Church of God, which isat Corinth, to them that are sanctified inChrist Jesus, called to be saints, with allthat in every place call upon the name ofJesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours;Grace be unto you, and peace from God ourFather, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

In the address of the second letter to theCorinthians, he says: "Paul an apostle ofJesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timo-thy our brother, unto the Church of God,which is at Corinth, with all the saints whoare in all Achaia; Grace be to you, andpeace from God our Father, and from theLord Jesus Christ."

From the Hebrew letter, we learn thatit is a logical and Scriptural argument toJewish Christians, setting forth, in a mas-terly manner, the superiority of the Chris-tian over the Jewish institution, with theevidences of Jehovah's faithfulness to suchas honor his appointments. The epistle toPhilemon, is addressed by Paul and Timo-

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thy "to Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, andthe Church in his house. Grace to you andpeace from God our Father, and the LordJesus Christ." These will serve as illustra-tions of all Paul's letters.

James wrote to the Christians of the"Twelve tribes, scattered abroad." Peterwrote to the "Elect strangers, scatteredthroughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,Asia, and Bithynia." John, in his firstepistle, wrote "to little children" in theLord, "'because' their sins were forgivenfor his name's sake;" "'to fathers,' be-cause they had known him from the begin-ning," and "to young men, because" theywere "strong and had overcome the wickedone." 1 John ii, 12-14.

His second, was addressed to an "Electlady, whom he loved in the truth," and thethird was affectionately inscribed, "untothe well beloved Gaius."

Jude wrote "To them that are sanctifiedby God the Father, and preserved in JesusChrist and called."

These addresses afford ample informationin regard to the character of the persons


who were to be profited by the variousletters in the New Testament, and that theywere essential to perfect the system of ourLord, must appear from the subjects dis-cussed, and the manner in which the differ-ent points were handled.

All those addressed in these twenty-oneepistles, were called justified, sanctified andsaved; and it was the object of the writersto free them from the dangerous tendenciesof existing errors; and, to direct the mindin all the practical principles of the religionof Jesus Christ. In these letters, we findthe only perfect and infallible system ofChurch government on earth. The variousduties of teachers and the taught, are dis-cussed with equal perspicuity; and there isnot a single offense against good morals andpurity of life, in reference to which, we havenot complete instruction.

The subject of temperance is elaboratelytreated in all its bearings, and all the tem-perance associations of the world, must fallfar short of equaling the institutes of tem-perance in the New Testament. The covet

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ous man and extortioner, have their placedefinitely assigned to them. The adulterer,fornicator, the unclean, and lascivious, theidolater, wizard, man of tricks,—the man ofhatred, wrath or strife in his heart, the mur-derer, drunkard, reviler, and factionist, arepointed downward to death and misery.

Christians are instructed in every grace.Hence we hear the apostle exhorting thebrethren to, "Add to their faith courage,knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness,brotherly kindness and charity, or universallove," with the promise that, "they who dothese things, shall never fall; for so anabundant entrance shall be administeredunto you, into the everlasting kingdomof our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."2 Peter i, 5-11.

In few words, these letters constitute notonly the discipline of the Church, in a gen-eral sense, but they afford so ample instruc-tion, to husband and wife, parent and child,master and servant, youth and senior, mar-ried and unmarried, widows and maidens,rich and poor, Jew and Greek, male and


female, that nothing is needed to perfectcharacter. If, therefore, we desire rules forchurch government, we have them in ourThird division of the New Testament. Ifwe need a book on conversation, courtesy,politeness, good manners, Paul and Johnare as far superior to Lord Chesterfield andCount D'Orsay, as heaven is superior toearth. As the instructions afforded, makethe true gentlemen, or lady, in the highest,and only Christian sense, it would be by nomeans light or irreverent, to style the divi-sion, by way of eminence, God's Book ofPurity and Good Manners. Let these in-spired letters, oh reader! be your constantcompanions through life.

FOURTH DIVISION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

The Book of Revolutions.

We very respectfully ask the reader toentertain no prejudice against our novel,"title page." A little examination andcareful reflection will show the proprietyof the style. The title in king James's ver-sion is:

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"THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THEDIVINE."

This smacks very plainly of a dark age,yet an age more recent than the apostolic,and of Home, the inventress of foreigntitles for the servants of God. Worse still,the title, "Revelation of St. John," is infact, not true. It contradicts the very firstverse in the revelation itself. The versereads, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ,which God gave unto him, to show untohis servants things which must shortly cometo pass, and He sent and signified it by hisangel unto his servant John."

From these palpable declarations, it isevident that our title, though novel, cannotbe worse than the one we have, it may bebetter — entirely appropriate. As nameswere originally significant, and when wiselyused, may still be so, the essence of this lastdivision of the Bible, will suggest mostreadily the style of the work.

While John, the apostle and "beloveddisciple," was in banishment on the lonelyisland of Patmos in the Ægean sea, "For


the word of God and for the testimony ofJesus Christ," he says: "I was in the spiriton the Lord's day, and heard behind me agreat voice, as of a trumpet; saying, I amAlpha and Omega, the first and the last: and,what thou seest, write in a book, and sendit unto the seven churches which are inAsia." Rev. i, 10, 11. It will be kept inmind that, this book was to be sent to theseven churches in Asia, and in the specialaddresses to respective churches, we havethe future history, not only of these churches,but also of the Christian and anti-christianworld boldly shadowed forth. The apostasy,from the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ,is represented under the figure of a proudwoman, seated upon broad waters, andupon her forehead was a name written,"MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MO-THER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THEEARTH." The true church is represented by"A woman clothed with the sun and themoon under her feet, and upon her head acrown of twelve stars. And the womanfled into the wilderness, where she hath aplace prepared of God, that they should

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feed her there, a thousand two hundred andthreescore days." Rev. xii, 1-6. Thiswoman had the promise of strength andprotection from God, and her children wereto overcome by the blood of the Lamb andthe word of the Lord." The opposingwoman was finally to be destroyed, with allher children. She is described also as acity which had made "all nations drunkwith the wine of the wrath of her fornica-tion." And John says: "I heard anothervoice from heaven, saying, Come out of her,my people, that ye be not partakers of hersins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."Rev. xviii, 4.

We wish to say to the reader that, wedoubt not that this is a representation ofthe Romish hierarchy, with her numerousdaughters, or sectarian institutions, builtupon forms and creeds taken from themother, all of which are to greater or lessextent, opposed to the true Christian insti-tution. The sin and destruction of this,"Mother of abominations, are thus describ-ed. Her sins have reached unto heaven,and God hath remembered her iniquities


Reward her even as she rewarded you, anddouble unto her double according to herworks, in the cup which she hath filled, fillto her double. Her plagues shall come inone day, death, and mourning, and famine;and she shall be utterly burned with fire;for strong is the Lord God, who judgethher. Rev. xviii, 4-8. Again: "They castdust on their heads, and cried, weeping,wailing, and saying, alas, alas, that greatcity, wherein were made rich, all that hadships in the sea by reason of her costliness;for in one hour, is she made desolate."

" Rejoice over her thou heaven, and yeholy apostles, and prophets; for God hathavenged you on her. And a mighty angeltook up a stone, like a great millstone, andcast it into the sea, saying, thus with vio-lence shall that great city Babylon bethrown down, and shall be found no moreat all." Rev. xviii, 19-21.

The last and grandest revolution in thisdrama of earth, is recorded in the conclu-sion of the twentieth chapter.

" And I saw the dead, small and greatstand before God; and the books were

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opened; and another book was opened,which is the book of life: and the deadwere judged out of these things written inthe books according to their works. Andthe sea gave up the dead which were in it,and death and hell, (the grave and theunseen world) delivered up the dead whichwere in them; and they were judged everyman according to his works. And deathand hell were cast into the lake of fire.This is the second death. And whosoeverwas not found written in the book of life,was cast into the lake of fire."

Now, reader, might we not correctly stylethis "the Book of Revolutions?" The pro-bability, in addition to the revolutions thathave taken place in religion for nearlyeighteen hundred years, and such as areyet to occur, is that most of the greatnational struggles from the birth of Chris-tianity to the conclusion of this wonderfulage, are more or less vividly portrayedin this vast picture-book of the uni-verse.

When we read it, therefore, as the onlybook of imagery in the New Testament, we


will most likely possess ourselves of thegreat thoughts therein contained.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.While we look upon the surface of re-

ligious society, the strife, disorder, andgeneral opposition, seem to say, "ProfessedChristians will never be united, and theworld will not believe that the Father sentthe Son to be a Saviour;" but upon closerexamination, we are constrained to admit,that godly men everywhere, speak and prac-tice the same things. Could the world beinduced to study the sacred Scriptures, uponthe proper plan, we see no reason why allthe pious should not rejoice in the samegreat cardinal principles of the Christianinstitution,

To the youth, who may read this littlework, we would very respectfully suggestthe propriety, not only of reading accordingto the rules and divisions we have submit-ted, but also of appropriating a part of everyday to this work.

One hour in twenty-four, given to thestudy of the Bible for a single year, would

136 TRUE METHOD, ETC.

tell mightily in the religious intelligenceof the individual, or of the society that willadopt and pursue this plan.

To teachers of religion, we would urgethe necessity of directing their thoughts andenergies, to means and modes to inducethose under their influence, to study theScriptures systematically. Fine sermonscan be of no service, if the people learn notthe truth; and finally, we give it as ourmost solemn conviction, that all religiousefforts, in which the careful study of theword of God is neglected, must prove abor-tive. We conclude with the very expressivewords of the "beloved" John. a Blessedis he that readeth, and they that hear thewords of this prophecy, and keep thosethings which are written therein: for thetime is at hand,"

THE END.

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SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES, - ICOTB · SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 15 Scriptures from the world, and leaves nothing in their place. The effect of these things, is most inju-rious. Those