SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 188, 7 February 1914, Page 6

SUNDAY READING.

IS THE BIBLE THE WORD OF COD? Sermon preached by HEV. T. 11. ROSKVEARK in St. Andrew's Church, New Plymouth. ''All Scripture is given by inspiiM- ; tion of God."—ll. Tim. 31-8. , Word of the ever-living God, Will of His Glorious Son, Without, Thee, bow could earth be trod, Or heaven itself be won?

If we speak -with assurance such iis is displayed in the above, then we have no need \o proceed further with our enquiry. But we cannot forget the fact that we are living in a disquieting age, when many of our long cherished ideas about the' Bible are being challenged. Literary criticism is showing, for example, that we cannot now believe that Aloses wrote the whole of the Pentateuch, that there was more than onsls■jiiah. that Paul did not write the Epistle lo the Hebrews; that the last clause of ,Koni., 8-1, in tiie authorised version was not in the original text; • so also John 5—4, and so on. To some it would appear that there is but a small step between discarding parts of the Bible unci throwing it over altogether, in view of such filings, can it be any longer maintained (hat the Bible is the Word of Clod:

THE WORD. NOT THE WORDS. OF GOD.

Let us clearly understand, at the outset, that our ideas about the Bible may undergo i considerable change, whereas the. Bible itself may ,not be thus disparaged or impaired. That is true in the. matter .of our belief in verbal inspiration, which really amounted to mechanical agency theory, for men were supposed by some means lo have hau \ communicated to th'em the very words j of God which they transcribed exactly , without fully understanding the signi- > ficance of what they themselves wroie. Now, an examination of the facts has shown that the Bible was not given to ' men in this way at all, but, that God,' first of all. revealed Himself to men by means of a scries of redemptive acts, and then they set to work to write out ■sn account of what took place. The Bible, as a book, came into existence : after God bad communicated with men. Is it then true that it is the Word of God? Yes, if we bear in mind what I word means. A word is merely a sym bob Our dictionary says "a word is an oral or a written sign expressing an I idea or motion." That sign may be i written in Hebrew, Greek or Chinese [ characters, or in English'letters, or be I a shorthand sign, or be given br a dumb man's turn of the hand. What | [gives the sign significance is simply t.he ] custom of associating it with a certain meaning. The matter of real importance is the meaning in the mind of the person expressing himself by means of the symbol. Thus God has had a message in His heart which He has endeavored to convey to the minds and hearts of men, Ivy whatever symbols men would understand; and. as Dr Puterson says in the "Rule of Faith," 'The fact that revelation was given in the language of earth, creates no more difficulty than that a parent should übc a child's language and should yet be able to convey to him knowledge which previonslv lay beyond the horizon of childhood." Thus, you see. there is room for Jiihicnl criticism, in order that the heavenly message, given to us in human language, or, to use Paul's expression "'The treasure in carthern vessels." may be made as clear and expressed as plainly as the meaning dcmiHiils. The Bible is the word of God: this means that the Bible is the message of God to men. INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF THE SCPERXATIRAL NATT'RE OK THE BIBLE.

In 1873 Henry Rogers opened his lecon "The Supernatural Origin of the Bible" wilh these words, "The Bible :s not such a book as man would have made, if he could, or could have made if he would." The truth of this will be seen from the following considerations:—

(1) The persistent and lofty monotheism of the Bible. One need only read the Old Testament through very cursorily in order to discover the prominent place that Cod held in the life of Israel. The historical books of other nations do not display this characteristic in this way. It was no product of the times. It is an evidence of divine intervention. Dr. Davidson in 'Old Testament Theology" says that "It was a common practice for men to deem the gods most powerful who were worshipped by the victors in battle. But i.'u inference of the prophets was a wholly different one." To them defeat in battle was due to the people's sinful neglect of God for which they were .iiill'e'ring chastisement. Although there wis and ever has been a distinct tendency to idolatry., yet the Old Testament .maintains steadfastly that there is only one living' and true Cod. (2) In the second place, the supcnatural nature of the Bible is seen from the fact (hat its ethics, higher than any others, are based upon religion. The Greeks based their ethics on philosophy, and the Romans theirs upon auguries and superstition, but the Jews derived theirs from their relationships with God, the result being that there is. iu the Bible. Hieh a, standard of morality as ,'the world has been ever since striving to attain to but has yet .iot fully reached. That surely is eviden " that this Book is no mere product, of man's mind.

(3) Consider al.so the cosmopolitanism of the Bible. Romans viewed id njn Romans as enemies. Greeks all others as barbarians: Jews naturally viewed all Gentiles as dogs, and yet the Bible, a product of (In- Jewish religion, denounces all Mich particularism and brings a message to the world in such sweeping term- as •■Whosoever." "If auv man.-' "all the world." and such like. Here again is evidence of that which is more than a human product. (41 Bui plainest of all is the foin-fohl portrait.ui" of Jesus Christ conlaimd :n the Gospel-. IWiw came -neb a character to be described if there were nothing .supernatural about if; It takes a Shakespeare to account for llainlel. but be does so account. What literary genius will account fur Chrisl in (be days before the age of fiction, and when men bad mil the literary gems to copy. There is only one way to account for Him and that is by admitting I hat He is divine, a supernal oral element in the Bible." KXCEITHINAI; POSITION (IK THE lillll.E IN THE WORLD. Henry lingers remarks: "It is net a little paradoxical that amidst the wreck of the many nations by which the Jews were surrounded, some of them incomparably mightier than themselves, they and t.hev alone should have succeeded in preserving copies and continuous'

written memorials of Uemselvcs." We I must remember that ti. iv>-yptiiiiis and j Assyrians, by means of brilding pyru-i mills and by tin? practice of embalming took grpat pains to perpetuate their memory,, but as present archaeological research parties aru able to discern only scraps whicb can bo deciphered only with difficulty, whereas the Jewish re- ■ cord consists of tin? widely circulated iiiiile. What will account for this better ■ than the theury that God ha-, intorveii-1 ed and caused the Bible to be preserved that men may know in what' way lie deals with us and what lie rnjiures'froin | us hi return. Take into account tin:' circulation of the Bible. Think of the I work of the British and Foreign Bible Society alone, which publishes the whole Bible m 107 different languages, the New Testament in 105, and one Bonk in 22S more; that is, the Bible in whole or in part is published i„ 44!) different forms' of speech, and is being circulated by this 'society at the rate of 7,3!)[.0f copies per year. Surely this is an indication that there is something about the Bible more than about any other book, that it is indeed the Word of God to men. It has been written about aid criticised and attacked from generation to generation, but like a majestic vessel unimpaired by attacking canoes, it sails on through the ages on its mission of mercy. BIBLE BROCGHT TO THE TEST OF 'EXPERIENCE. But whatever critical views we may have or lack concerning the Bible, there is at least one test to which we may alli put it, and that is the test of personal experience. We may be r.ble to say that, whatever this book may mean to others, at least it is the Word of God to me. This is the lest it has been put to daily and hourly from generation to generation, and it has stood that test so that ~in times of need, of trial and persecution, of- sorrow and trouble, of pain and I death, men and women lly instinctively Jto it for hope and comfort. Where else i do we find such cherished passages as • many of the I'salms, Isaiah OK, John, W

Ilebrews \->t is there no inspiration about the Bible? Then let those who say so, with all their literary gems before them, and any other aids they seek to invoke, write something which will replace this book in times of deepest need, and then, and not till then, will we believe that the Bible is any other than the Word of (iotl. Head it, men and women, not only to criticise it;" '.nit with an open soul to receive its mesiage and ymi will irrd no further proof that it is the Word of God.

Cling to the Bible though all else be taken, Love not its precepts so precious and pure. Souls thai are sleeping its tidings awaken Life from the dead in its promises sure. Lamp for the feet that in byways have wandered, Guide for the youth that would otherwise fall. Hope for the sinner whose life has b n on squandered, Staff for the aged and liest book of all.