April, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
134 “ BRING ME THE BOOK B y NORMAN B ^ A R R I S O N * Minneapolis, 'Minnesota > l o o e o o r 0 0 V s m » - i i u T f t - o u u c - n o 'A J T he words o f Sir Walter Scott, “ Bring me the Book,” forever immortalizing the Bible amid the fast-multi plying productions o f human thought, are a call to us to re-evaluate “ the Book” for our own thinking and living. And this appraisal is the more needful in a day of repeated disparagement o f the worth o f the Bible as an authorita tive guide book, and in a day o f evident turning to con temporary literature as o f equal, if not o f superior, value “ for men who think.” O f course, this latter tendency is the logical attitude when once the evolutionary theory is applied to Scripture. By this theory, we now know (so we are told) that every idea o f the Bible sprang from rude and primitive notions; “ In the Church itself” ; and it proceeds to erect a hierarchy to demonstrate and enforce its claims. But corruption and error render untenable the doctrine o f papal infalli bility. The church’s voice has ever been a human and fallible interpreter o f Christ. ¡The Protestant Church has always insisted that the seat o f authority is the sacred Scriptures. In keeping with this position, her ministers take their ordination vow in words to this effect: “ I believe the Scriptures o f the Old and New Testaments to be the Word o f God, the only infallible rule o f faith and practice.” The evangelical church o f Christ is thus committed to submission to the authority o f the Scriptures in matters o f belief, conscience, and condu ct//-,«? / / oy / r* ¡The third position is that that we must have progressed far beyond it; that much of its teachings we have entirely outgrown; and that the only procedure left to us is to take from it what remains of value for our day and needs, discarding the remainder. Yet how strikingly all this theorizing fails to tally with the present-day facts! With the few, the head may esti mate the Bible thus; but with the many, the heart hungers for it still. This Book re mains by all odds the “ best seller.” It has no competitor. It is ' now read in 966 lan guages and dialects. T o meet the demand for its circulation, some thirty societies put out 36,500,000 copies in one year. The production rate o f one o f these publishing houses was more than 2,000 every hour. The Bible was the first Book to be printed, and it has reached an estimated output o f 882,000,000 copies in these TWO STATESMEN AND THE BIBLE All the good, from the Saviour o f the world is communicated th rou gh this B ook; but for this Book we could not know right from wrong. All the things desirable to man are contained in it. —A braham L incoln . o f the so-called modernist in the church, corresponding to the rationalist o u ts id e the church. His position is that o f reason sitting in judgment upon revelation. Rejecting - the integrity and authority of the Scriptures, declaring that they contain the W ord o f God rather than are the W ord of God, he is under necessity o f deciding for himself what portion o f the Bible is of authority to him. This view, in its practical effect, means that the human reason is en throned as the source o f authority. But whose reason decides ? With so many shades and shiftings o f thought, it becomes evident that in fol lowing this theory, one is helplessly adrift with no hope o f finality?? / - f i ^ l f* On. Were this last position to prevail in the church, she Who doubts that, tim es without number, particular portions o f the S c r ip tu r e s find their way to the human soul as if they were embassies from on high, each with its own commission o f comfort, of guidance, or o f warning? What crisis, what trouble, what perplexity o f life, has failed, or can fail, to draw from this inexhaustible treasure-house its proper supply? What pro- fession, what position, is not daily andhourly' enriched by these words which repetition never weakens, which carry with them now, as in the days o f their first utterance, the fresh ness o f youth and immortality ?—W illiam E. G ladstone . would be writing her own death warrant. Whenever, faith less, she forfeits her authority, then she also forfeits her following. In utter necessity, then, we turn anew to the Scriptures; and, thank God, faith and reason combine to declare that these sacred writings were meant to be, and still are, our God-inspired source o f authority. W hat the B ible I s Seven words in Hebrews 4 :12 give us the Bible’s own estimate o f itself: “ The word of God is quick [living] and powerful.” “ The word o f God.” Whatever men may say about the Bible, the Record itself carries the claim o f divine authority. Some-2,600 times in the Old Testament, with varying expression, and some 525 times in the New Testa ment, the Bible calls itself the,Word o f God. O f course, this repeated assertion is either, the truth, or else it is the most deliberate, oft-repeated deception. centuries o f distribution. There must indeed be something of vital worth about this world-sought Book. What a grim disappointment this popularity would be to Voltaire, who predicted that the Bible would be obsolete in a hundred years! Well may we meditate upon the secrets o f the Bible’s pull upon the human heart. As we do so, let every one make an honest check of his own personal attitude, as reflected in the use or disuse of the Book, the reverence or disrespect for its intrinsic worth, as shown in his daily habits. T he S eat of A uthority Authority there must be, if the Christian faith is to make good its claims. Authority there must be, if that faith is to satisfy and unify its followers. Authority there must be, if Christianity is even to survive against a rising tide o f unbelief. But where shall that authority be found ? There are three answers. The Catholic Church says, * Pastor, Oliver Presbyterian Church.
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