CHURCH NEWS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 18 January 1913, Page 3

CHURCH NEWS

| PAsTOJ? IiUSSEIAS A DDK ESS j TO.ol'll JIKAPKIt-S.

A DIVINE REVELATION". (Inserted By Special Arrangement.) 1 'The Bible 'i ; the torch of civilisation suul liberty. Its inlluen-e ]or good in society lias been reeo.Li.iu-.ivi bv the greatest plates men, even j for tlimost part, tliey have looked at it through the various ghisj ses of conflicting creeds, which w h.le | upholding the Bible, grievously misrepresent its teachings. The grand old book is unintentionally but woelull.\ misrepresented by its friends, niany of whom would lay down life on its behalf; and yet they do it more vital injury than its foes by claiming its support to their long-revered misconceptions of its truth, received through the traditions of their fathers. Would that such might awake, re- , examine their oracle, and put to eon- j fusion its enemies by disarming them j of their weapons! j Since tlm light of nature leads us to expect n fuller revelation of God than that which nature supplies, the reasonable.-thinking'mind w " be prc- ) pared to examine the claims of anything purporting to be a divine revolution, which bears a reasonable surface evidence of the truthfulne-s-s of the claims. The Bible claims to be such a revelation from God, it does conic to lis with sufficient surface evidence as to the probable correctness of its claims, and gives us a reasonable hope that closer investigation will disclose more■ complete and positive evidence that it is indeed the Word of God I The Bible is the oldest book in ex-, istonce; it ban outlined the storms of thirty centuries. Men have endeav'l ourod b,v every possible means to banish it from the face of the earth; • they have hidden it, buried it, made it a crime punishable by death to have it in possesion, and the most bitter and relentless persecutions have been waged against those who had faith in it-; but still the book lives. To-day, while many of its foes slumber in death, and hundreds of volumes written to discredit it and overthrow | its influence are long since forgotten, the "Bible has found its way into every nation and language of the earth, j over four hundred different transla- • tion.s of it having been made. The i fact that this book has survived so J many centuries, notwithstanding such I unparalleled efforts to banish and de- : strov it, is. at least strong circum- { stantial evidence tliat the great Being I whom it claims a.s its Author has also been its Preserver. ,

MORAL TNFLUEXCE OF THE BIBLE.

, It is also true that the moral in- | fiuence of the Bible is uniformly good. | Those who become careful students of j its pages are invariably elevated to j a purer life. Other writings upon re- i ligion and the various sciences have. ! done good and enobled and blessed (mankind, to some extent; but all j other books combined have failed to ( bring peace, joy and blessing to both , tlie rich and poor, learned and un--1 loAvnecl. The Bible is no£ a book 1 ] be read merely; it- is a- 'book to be I studied with Cflrfi iiilfl thought; for I God's thoughts are higher than ohr | thoughts, and His ways higher t' i bur ways. If wo would comprehend I tiio plan and thoughts of the infinite - ; . God. we must bend all our energies ito that important work. The richest treasures of truth do not always lie on tlio surface. This book throughout, constantly points and refers to one prominent character, Jesus of Nazareth, who, it claims, was the Son of God. From beginning to 'end His name, office, and •work are made prominent. That a man called .Jesus of Nazareth lived, j and was somewhat noted, about the ; time indicated bv the writers of the Bjblo is a fact of history outside the Bible, variously and f-ully corrobarat•m. That this Jesus was .crucified because lie had rendered liimself of-fensive-to the Jews an 4 their priesti hood is a further fact established by ■ history outside the evidence furnished , by the New Testament The ! writers of tlio New Testament- {except Paul and Luke) were the personal acquaintances and disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, whose doctrines their writings set forth. ! MOTIVES OF THE WRITERS. ' The existence of a.ny book implies motive on the part of the writer. We therefore inquire, What motives could have inspired these men to ospouse i the cause of this person P He was , eodomned to death and crucified as a

malefactor liv tin 1 <few.s, the Jiio.st 10licrious among I hem assenting to and j demanding Mis death, as 0110 unfit to live. In >'<])( using Mis cause, ami promulgating His doctrines, these men. braver contempt, deprivation, and bitter por~ec'.U'.o:i. risked I l ' l ' itself, and in some cases even suffered mar- ; fcyrdom. Admitting that while He lived .Jesus was a remarkable person, 1 in both His life and teaching, what motive einild there have !>oe n for any to espouse Ills. miiM' alter He was . {lead;-I—especially 1 —especially when ll.s death was so ignominious. If we suppose that these writers invented their narratives. and thai desus wji- the : r imagtnai'v or ideal hero, how ahsnrd it won id be to suppose that sail'.' men. alter claiming that He was the Sou of God, that Ho had heen begotten in a supernatural way, and had supernatural powers, should wind up their story by stating that a little hand of His enemies executed Him as a- lelon. while all His friends and disciples—among them the writers themselves forsook .Him ami fled in the trying moment?

Reason plainly teaches that, men who sacrificed home, reputation, honour, and life, who lived not for present gratification, hut whose cential aim was in elevate their lellow-mcn, and who inculcated morals of the highest type, were not only possessed of a. motive, hut. iurther, that thei: motive must have been pure and thenobject grandlv sublime. Reason fuither declares' that the testimony of such men. actuated only by pure and uood motives, is worthy of ten times the weight and consideration of ordinarv writers. Nor were these men fanatics; they wore men "I Si'.tind and reasonable' mind, they furnished in everv case a reason lor their taitit ami hope; ami were perseveringly faithful to those reasonable convictions.

What, we have here noticed i. H likewise applicable to the various writers of the Old Testament. They were. , in the main, men notable lor their fidelity to the Lord; and this history roeords their weaknesses and reprove their shortcennngs a- imparitallv as it commend- the:r virtues and faitufulness. This must astonish these who presume the Bible to be a manufactured history, designed to awe men into reverence of a religious system. There Na. straightforwardness* about the Bible that stamps it as: truth. Knaves, desirous of representi in sz a man as great. and especially il I desirous of presenting some of his writings as inspired of God, would undoubtedly paint such a one's character blameless ami noble |to the last decree. The fact, that such [ a course has not been pursued iii' the I Bible is reasonable evidence that i' I was not fraudulently goi up to deceive. Having, then, reason (o expect a revelation of God's will and iilan, and having found that the Bible, which claims to be that revelation, was written by men whose motives wo see no reason to impugn, but which, on the contrary, we see reason to approve, we should examine the character of the wrti,in<■'c'ei icd as inspired. to see whet'iiM- tlvi- (encliings ennvspoml with eha'.'n-! : "'0 h"ve reesonablv iinriii "! ta- (lad. eud v, i:e» the- tle-y Ir'iir internal eva'cuce th'-ii" i-nthfuli'c- -.