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THE

BOOK ABOVE ALL;

OK,

THE HOLT BIBLE

THE ONLY SENSIBLE, INFALLIBLE AND DIVINE AUTHORITY
ON EARTH.

A SERIES OF DISCOURSES.

BY THE LATE T. H. STOCKTON, D.D.,
in
LATE CHAPLAIN TO THE U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

ON THE TEXT,
" Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." — Psalm cxxxviii. 2.

PHILADELPHIA:
CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER,
Nos. 819 4 821 MARKET STREET.
1871.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
THOMAS H. STOCKTON,
In the Office of the Librarian of CoDgress, at Washington.

PREFACE,

" The times seem to call, with unusual emphasis and
interest, for something of this kind. Sceptical develop
ments, even among ecclesiastical and collegiate authori
ties, make it painfully evident that the true character of
the Bible is misunderstood by many of its professional
teachers. With these mischievous perverters of great
providential advantages, it is too plain to be longer
doubted that ' science, falsely so called,' has absorbed
the attention and confidence due only to the Records of '
Divine Inspiration."
Several years since, the author of these sermons having
in view their immediate publication, wrote , the above
sentence, but was prevented from accomplishing his de
sign by reason of sickness, which terminated in death.
It therefore becomes a duty for others to perform— not
only of loving affection to the departed, but also of sup
plying one of the great wants of the living — of meeting
one of the great necessities of the times. If this want
was felt years ago, because of the existing antagonism to
the Word of God ; surely, much more must it be felt
now, in view of the recent developments in our own
country, especially regarding the bitter hostility of
the Roman Catholic Church against its use in our own
schools. Well would it be for us to know, that this first demand

iV PREFACE.
of the Church of Rome upon Protestant United States,
is but the beginning of a series of demands of similar
import, which refer not only to the Public Schools, but to
all other Public Institutions, including the various State
Legislatures, the Army and Navy, the United States
Senate and the House of Representatives — requiring the
suppression of the Bible and the dismissal of the Chap
lains, and thus the total abolition of all public religious
observances, unless performed under the direction of the
Pope at Rome. And this same Roman Catholic Church,
which would exclude the Bible from the public institu
tions of a Protestant Country, would just as cheerfully
sweep it away from the entire land, and substitute the
darkness and despotism that have marked her entire
history, and which are essential elements in her govern
ment. It will be observed that the last sermon in this series,
the tenth, is composed of three parts. It was the inten
tion of the author to condense these into the limits of one
sermon, but this was too much for his feeble health, and
lest an attempt by other hands to accomplish the same
object, should fail in anywise, and as each one contains
valuable information that could not easily be dispensed
with, it has been decided to present the three parts
separately. Lastly, all the additional matter has been
in constant demand for years, and cannot be now ob
tained excepting in the present volume.
T. H. S.
Philadelphia, 1870.

CONTENTS.

FIRST DISCOURSE.
TAGE
Tlie Bible and other Current Authorities — Review of the
Character of Creation and Providence, the Church and
the State  1
SECOND DISCOURSE.
The Bible and other Current Authorities — Review of the
Claims of the Four Preceding Authorities  25
THIRD DISCOURSE.
The Bible and other Ancient Authorities — Elect Men, Elect
Angels, Christ  43
FOURTH DISCOURSE.
The Current Condition of the Bible — Its Sole Visible Su
premacy  66
FIFTH DISCOURSE.
The Bible Abroad in all the World — Never Again to be
Concealed  89
SIXTH DISCOURSE.
The Bible Rightly Abroad in all the World — Intended and
Deserves to be so  108
SEVENTH DISCOURSE.
The Bible Opposed — Ecclesiastical Opposition  125
1* v

VI CONTENTS.
EIGHTH DISCOURSE. PA0E
The Bible Opposed — Civil and Social Opposition  167
NINTH DISCOURSE.
The Bible Opposed — Personal Opposition  197
TENTH DISCOURSE.
IN THREE PARTS.
The Triumph of the Bible over all Opposition  229
Address Delivered before the Bible Societies of Cincinnati,
Philadelphia and New York  297
The Imperishable and Saving Words or Christ —
Delivered in the National Hall of Representatives, Sab
bath, March 18, 1860. Text: Matt. xxiv. 35  320
Address on the National, Fast-Day— Near the close of
President Buchanan's Administration, and after the Seces
sion of South Carolina. Delivered in the same place,
Friday, January 4, 1861  344
American Sovereignity — A Short Sermon on Romans
xiii. 1. Delivered in the same place, Sabbath, July 28,
1861  372
Why Could Not We Cast Him Out ? — A Sermon on the
National Fast-Day, Thursday, April 30, 1863. Delivered in
St. John's Lutheran Church, Philadelphia  390

SERMON I.

THE BIBLE AND OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES.

"Thou Jiast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
The great questions of the age relate to govern
ment. This important fact is equally prominent
and impressive in church and state, among rulers
and people, in all the world. To the contem
plative Christian it is a fact hopefully significant
of the speedy approach of predicted and happier
times, — the times of Him who is "the blessed and
only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords," — the one perfect and immortal Sovereign,
who, even though many of them know it not, con
centres in Himself "the desire of all nations."
Allow me to state and answer a few of the
questions referred to, in simple expression of my
own convictions, in respectful assumption of your
sanction, and as suitably introductory to the dis-

2 THE BIBLE AND
cussion of the proposition which I shall afterward
affirm. Is man capable of self-government ? Not at all.
Is he, therefore, of necessity subject to authority?
This is the only alternative theory. The philo
sophy of our nature and the history of the world
abundantly sustain these assertions.
By what authority, then, ought man to be
governed ? By Divine authority alone ; and tnis
for reasons both absolute and relative. It is the
authority of Him who made man, — on whom he
is dependent, and to whom he is responsible.
Moreover, it is the only duly-qualified authority.
But has this authority been proclaimed? It
has been proclaimed. Where does it reside ? In
the Bible. How is it exercised? Through pri
vate judgment, or the conscience of its subjects.
What is its tendency? To personal and social
improvement, — to entire and eternal redemp
tion. What, then, are its essential and formal charac
teristics? Essentially, as proceeding from God,
it is infallible ; formally, as adapted to man, it is
sensible. These last particulars bring us directly to the
special theme selected for this occasion.
Here, then, I affirm— as a fact susceptible of

OTHER- CURRENT AUTHOEITIES. 3
easy demonstration and most useful employ
ment — that
The Bible is the only sensible, infallible,
and Divine authority on earth; i.e. the only
AUTHORITY COMBINING THESE DISTINCTIONS.
By authority, I mean — a rule of government, — a
standard of personal and social life.
By sensible authority, I mean — an authority in
a material form, and which, therefore, addresses its
subjects through the bodily senses.
By infallible authority, I mean — an authority
so constituted as to be, and so guarded as to re
main, unerring in its decisions.
By Divine authority, I mean — an authority duly
attested as a revelation from God.
By the combination of these three distinctions in
this authority, I mean — not only to show that in
this consists the peculiarity of the Bible, but also —
to imply, as the great consequence of this pecu
liarity, the superiority of the Bible to every other
authority, making it fit to be confessed as the
PROPER AND SUPREME CONSTITUTION AND LAW OF THE
WORLD. FOUR OTHER AUTHORITIES.
Now, there are four other agencies, which, to
some extent, may be acknowledged as authorities,

4 THE BIBLE ANDV
and which, indeed, on account of their combining
two of the three distinctions just noticed, are re
garded by many as rivals of the Bible, and by
others are preferred to the Bible. They are
sensible authorities. They are, more or less,
Divine authorities. But they are not infallible
authorities. Their original condition, the original
condition of man himself, and, consequently, the
relations between them and man, have been so
changed, that they can no longer be reasonably
considered, either separately or jointly, as entitled
to sovereign control.
These four authorities are of two classes : —
natural and social; two in each class. The na
tural are — creation and providence ; the social —
the church and the state. The two former are
wholly Divine ; the two latter, partly Divine and
partly human. That these solemn and imposing
institutions may not be treated too lightly, — as
well as in justice to» the exclusive proposition
which has been submitted for demonstration, —
it is necessary to review their character and
claims. Their character involves both their con
stitution and condition. Their claims are of
interest chiefly in relation to the single point
of infallibility. Let us now look at their cha
racter.

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 5
I. THE CHARACTER OF CREATION.
What, then, is the true notion of creation?
What is the ideal of its constitution? Let me
try to give a fair answer.
Created things compose two classes: — the un
living, or the worlds and their purely physical
developments; and the living, or the animal and
intellectual orders.
From the first class, separately considered, it is
impossible to educe a design which seems worthy
of the Creator. For of what advantage could it
he to the Deity to fill the solitude of His infinite
spiritual glory with merely material forms and
motions, sounds and colorings ? And, if no ad
vantage to Him, it could have been of no advan
tage at all ; for the lifeless elements would have
felt no thrill of joy.
In like manner, from the simple animal exist
ence of the second class we are at a loss to infer
a becoming purpose. For, again, what adequate
pleasure could the Almighty have found in pre
siding over an endless succession of creatures so
humble ? — eternally unconscious of His being and
unimprovable by His care? And if it be sup
posed that their own enjoyment was a sufficient
reason for their existence, still, it may be asked,

6 THE BIBLE AND
But why the manner of their existence ? Why
their occupancy of a system so lavishly supplied
beyond all their wants and so magnificently ex
panded beyond their little comprehension ? What
to them would have been the roll of the sea, the
rise of the mountains, the meteors of the air, the
changes of the moon, the apparitions of the
comets, and the boundless sweep of the sun with
all its train among the innumerable stars ? In a
word, take from the universe the intellect which
illustrates it far more than the blaze of all its
fadeless fires, and there is nothing left, in the bare
contemplation of senseless spheres and thought
less ephemera, at all correspondent with the im
plied dignity of creative exertion.
The true notion of creation, therefore, is de
rived from its spiritual connections. It is the
splendid ideal of a spiritual universe to which the
material universe should be subordinate and sub
servient. The spiritual was to come between the
Divine and the natural; to vindicate the former
and elevate the latter. It was to be constitu
tionally allied to both, conscious of its relations
to both, and thoroughly sympathetic with the
attributes of both.
Now, it is not irrational or irreverent to suppose
that God would take pleasure in the existence of

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 7
spiritual beings. They were to be like Himself;
to be His children ; and to be His heirs. They
were to think as He thinks, feel as He feels, and
act as He acts. Moreover, while thus capable of
direct communion with Him, they were also to
commune with Him indirectly. Because of the
difference between the finite and the infinite, be
cause of their equality and sympathy with each
other, and because of their investiture, more or
less refined, with material forms, they might de
rive advantage and pleasure from the whole infe
rior creation ; not only perceiving and admiring
its physical beauty, sublimity, and variety, but
also understanding and appreciating its nobler
moral significancy. To them, every opening blos
som, every flying bird, every floating cloud, every
rolling world, was to express some thought, some
sentiment, some law, of its Maker; and so all
nature was to be suspended around them as a
grand gallery of instruction, a vast artistic system
of permanent symbols of the Divine perfections.
And here it is that the great principle of infal
lible authority first becomes sensibly impressive.
For no error can be properly supposed, either in
the original significancy of natural objects, or in
the unperverted interpretation of their observers ;
and, of course, no imperfection can be admitted

8 THE BIBLE AND
in the obligations of whatever truth or duty might
be so revealed. With particular reference to our
own race, it may be added, that this notion of
creation necessarily includes the original perfect
adaptation of the human constitution to the study
of this symbolic system, and to the enjoyment of
all its harmonious felicities.
But what is the current condition of creation ?
Does it answer to the notion, does it realize the
ideal, thus described? Certainly, so far as our
relations extend, it does not. What then ? Has
not the earth been changed ? Has not man been
changed ? And have not, consequently, their re
lations been changed ? If we deny a change, then,
arguing from facts as they are, we must conclude
that the ideal never was realized ; that perfection
never existed ; that God himself is imperfect, or
else that, being perfect, He preferred an imperfect
to a perfect world, a distorted image of Himself
to a faithful reflection, and the error and wretched
ness of His children to their knowledge and bliss.
If, on the other hand, a change be admitted, — and
surely we all agree in this admission, — then the
inference is easy and the truth is plain. We need
not pause to inquire whether this change has
chiefly affected the symbol or the observer. Be
this as it may, the result is the same. Crea-

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 9
tion, to us, is no longer a source of infallible
authority. Since the change referred to, every student of
nature has erred, both because of the defects of
his authority and because of his own incompe
tency. As long as the influence of that change
remains, every student must continue to err.
That nature still teaches some truth, and that
man, impaired as are his powers, may yet learn it,
are suggestions not at all at variance with these
statements. That many and ample systems of
natural history, natural science, natural philo
sophy, natural law, and natural religion, have
been compiled from accessible and appreciable
facts, are remembrances of no force against the,
argument. Some truth is not what we want. We
want all the truth that properly belongs to the
form of revelation we are studying, and that with
out any admixture of error.
And as for the ample systems just alluded to,
what are they, even at the best, but representa
tions, more or less exact, of things as they are?
They have neither history nor prophecy of a better
estate. They supply no deficiency, they remedy
no incompetency ; their whole character is deter
mined by the facts and principles of the condition
in which they originate. They have no power to

10 THE BIBLE AND
change the condition. They do not create facts,
but investigate them ; they do not inspire prin
ciples, but develop them. Besides, even the facts
which they do investigate are not such, generally
speaking, as involve our highest interests ; neither
are the principles which they develop those which
enable us to secure these interests. Nor only so ;
but, even within the inferior range to which they
are limited, their facts and principles, to a great
extent, are perversions of the original intention.
And so it comes out, that the seeming demon
strations of the fulness and certainty of natural
wisdom are the real demonstrations of its un
certainty and emptiness. For natural history
has no beginning; and natural science, no
end ; and natural philosophy, no explanation ;
and natural law, no force ; and natural religion,
no salvation. II. THE CHARACTER OF PROVIDENCE.
What, then, is the true notion of providence ?
What is the ideal of its constitution ? Here, also,
I seek a fair answer.
Creation shows us God in action thousands of
years ago, and does not forbid the thought that
He has been at rest, afar off, ever since. But
x providence brings Him near to us, and keeps Him

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 11
always with us and always employed in our
behalf. The true notion of providence may be thus
stated : — It is an agency which includes thorough
knowledge of the two great classes of created
things, and the disposition and ability to make
the best possible use of this knowledge ; that is,
it knows all the wants of all living things, and all
the resources of all unliving things, and how to
make these resources supply those wants, and
is actually engaged every moment in the uni
versal application of this knowledge, according
to circumstances, in all wisdom, power, and
grace. Animal wants supplied, the notion rises to the
supply of spiritual wants. It contemplates the
perpetual, interchanging display of all the phe
nomena of creation ; heightening their symbolic
character, varying their relative uses, and in every
way multiplying their power. In regard to this
world, the moral impressiveness of providence
is confined to our own race. Whether the par
ticular instrument it employs be small or great, —
a dew-drop or an ocean, a pebble or a continent, a
bubble or a sky ; and whether it affect a flower or
a fleet, a child or a nation, a worm or a world, —
by man alone- its intellectual indications are dis-

12 THE BIBLE AND
cerned, and on him alone is exerted its most
important influence.
There can be no doubt that providence was
designed to be a ministry of bliss. Not only —
for it is always this — was it intended to be a
ministry of love. We have learned from another
source that "God is love;" and, therefore, that,
in chastening as well as in reward, His provi
dence is proof of His love. But it was originally
designed to be the ministry of love to the sinless;
and, of course, to be the ministry of joy alone.
Had this design escaped interruption, then, with
no symbolic error, no administrative error, and
no error in observation, from sun to Bun, from
sabbath to sabbath, from moon to moon, from
harvest to harvest, and from the universal fulness
of one perfect year to that of the next, this glo
rious superintendency would have continued to
this day the practical demonstrations of its in
fallible authority. Like the unclouded light of
the sun, the wisdom of God would have shone on
all things ; like the unchilled heat of the sun, the
goodness of God would have glowed in all things ;
and as the sun, generous as it is, does not lose its
light or heat, but sees them glorified in all growth,
and bloom, and life, so all the Divine perfections,
already illustrated in the stabilities of creation,

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 13
would have disclosed new charms and dispersed
new delights by means of the ceaseless alterna
tions of providence.
But what is the condition of providence now ?
Certainly it has been changed. It is not corre
spondent with its constitutional ideal. Its ministry
has become, to a great extent, a ministry of deso
lation and woe.
True, it is still easy to refer to fair and attractive
scenes. That eye must be dim indeed which does
not flash as it turns toward them ; that ear must
be dull indeed which does not ring with their
blended music ; and that heart must be cold in
deed which does not quicken with their myriad
living sympathies. But that is poor philosophy,
as well as poor poetry, which, in its devotion to
abstract good, overlooks or denies the relative
contrast of evil. In this. world there can be little
light, or no beauty, where there is no shadow.
The desert is exceedingly illustrious ; but, in the
paradise, every hill, and tree, and flower, has its
shade as well as its sheen. What sort of a
painter would he he who should leave out the
shadows ?
In all cases it is unwise to disregard distinguish
ing facts. In this case it is peculiarly so. The
ministry of providence is no longer an exclusive

14 THE BIBLE AND
ministry of bliss. We must admit a change.
This is not in the qualifications of providence.
Providence knows all wants as well as ever.
Providence knows all resources as well as ever.
Providunce is as able to adapt the latter to the
supply of the former as ever. Providence is as
full of love as ever. The change is in the mode
of operation, and is occasioned by moral causes.
Wants are only partially supplied. Resources are
only partially employed. Love often assumes the
appearance of wrath. Punishment is as common
as reward. Sometimes virtue seems to be punished
and vice rewarded ; for the good suffer and the
evil rejoice. Impressions, therefore, are contra
dictory, and the mind is perplexed. Even with
the aid of revelation, it is acknowledged to be
difficult to understand providence. To say the
least that can be said, it is far from being an
infallible authority.
III. THE CHARACTER OF THE CHURCH.
What, then, is the true notion of the church ?
What is the ideal of its constitution ?
I answer, — The church is a religious society,
governed by Divine revelation alone. This state
ment, in my judgment, embodies all that is essen
tial to the constitution of the church. I will not

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 15
say that there cannot be a church without certain
articles, officers, or ordinances. Neither will I say
that any association must be a church which has
certain articles, officers, or ordinances. But this
I do say, — that no society can be a church unless it
be a religious society, governed by Divine revela
tion, and by this alone ; and, further, that every
such society must be a church. There never was,
is not now, and never can be, any other true
church than one of this description. Nor can I
hesitate a moment to add, that, when I speak of
its being governed by Divine revelation alone, I
mean by its own understanding of that revelation ;
only requiring that it exercise its understanding,
with due reverence toward God and due respect
for the whole Christian brotherhood, in ardent,
patient, studious, prayerful, practical desire to be
led into all truth by the Spirit of truth. All this,
indeed, is logically and philosophically involved
in the proposition itself.
To me it is clear that the original intention was
that the whole human race should constitute the
one undivided membership of the church. Church
and state, if designed to be separately and dif
ferently organized, were always to exist in close
union and perfect harmony. Their separation,'
however expedient now, could not have been

16 THE BIBLE AND
demanded by the primitive condition of things.
This expediency is an effect of the introduction
of evil. Bevelation, in whatever form furnished
and to whatever organs restricted, would have
qualified these organs for the exercise of infal
lible authority. The multiplying generations,
with no tendency to error in themselves, with
nothing to suggest it in creation or providence,
and with nothing to occasion it among their social
instructors, would have continued forever to en
large their acquaintance with truth, and to enrich
their character and estate with the blessings of
obedience. Every birth into the world would
have been a birth into the church. The prattle
of the child of a year or two old would have been
readily inspired with the worshipful spirit of the
patriarch of a thousand years, and the softest
lisping of its all-believing love might have been
more touching to the heart of God than the
sublimest anthem of angels ever sung before His
throne. But what is the condition of the church now ?
How does it compare with the ideal of its con
stitution ?
Its whole history is a history of change. Once
and again, and again and again, — to say nothing of
human changes, — God himself has changed it ; not,

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 17
indeed, the principle of it, but the form of it. The
principle of it — the sole sovereignty of revelation
— is as much identified with His own honor and
the good of the church as ever, and, of course, is
cherished by Him as sacredly as ever ; and all the
formal changes alluded to have had a progressive
tendency, as, indeed, the influence of them still
has, toward the universal and everlasting esta
blishment of this principle.
At present, however, after all the struggles of
nearly six thousand years, the most extended
boundaries of the church, instead of including the
whole current generation, comprise only a small
minority. Instead of being closely united with
the state, the very theory of such union has to
contend with increasing prejudices, occasioned
by the offensiveness of the miserable caricature
unions of apostate churches with apostate states ;
and, therefore, the best practical condition of the
church is that of entire separation from the state.
Again : instead of being united in its own mem
bership, the church is broken into almost innu
merable sharp-edged fragments, nearly every one
of which it is dangerous to handle, even in a
charitable effort, to restore them to their proper
connections and original integrity. But the sad
dest part of the answer is that which accounts for

18 THE BIBLE AND
all that has gone before. I mean that the church,
as a general fact, is not governed by Divine reve
lation ; Le. not by Divine revelation alone.
Certainly it has no immediate, personal inspira
tion, — no peculiar, official prerogative, in virtue
of which it can independently ascertain the Divine
will. In a word, it has no infallible authority
apart from the Bible ; and it is not governed by
the Bible alone. In some cases it trusts to its
own understanding, without due efforts to secure
a correct understanding; in others, it alternates
between its understanding and its authorities;
and in others, it confides implicitly in its authori
ties without any understanding. In all these
cases it falls into manifest and egregious errors ;
demonstrating that it is not itself infallible, either
in whole or in part, and, moreover, that it has
neglected, misunderstood, or perverted, the infal
lible authority of the Bible.
IV. THE CHARACTER OF THE STATE.
What, then, is the true notion of the state ?
What is its constitutional ideal ?
I answer, — The state is a secular society, go
verned by Divine revelation alone. It has been
already intimated, that church and state, if at all
intended originally as separate institutions, were

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 19
nevertheless designed for close sympathetic union.
It is doubtful, indeed, whether a separate state
organization would be necessary, or could even
conveniently exist, in a perfectly holy and happy
condition. Rather, it is probable that such an
institution would not exist under such circum
stances. There is no intimation of a separate state
organization in heaven. There " the King in his
beauty" is, at the same time, the "Head of the
church, which is his body, the fulness of him that
filleth all in all."
Dominion was given to Adam, indeed, even
before the Sabbath was instituted. The sceptre
was placed in his hand before the censer. But
this dominion was not that of a man over men.
It was dominion over the inferior orders. Still,
it is remarkable that the existence of the ani
mal races in association with man — especially as
affected by the introduction of sin and death into
our world — is among the chief facts, to say the
least of it, which render a modification of sove
reignty necessary here, which, in the absence of
such facts, is not necessary in heaven. In a mul
titude of ways and to a greatly-controlling extent,
these inferior creatures, both living and dead, —
from the cochineal-insect up to the elephant and

20 THE BIBLE AND
the whale, — enter into state affairs. What would
the arts and sciences, the agriculture, manufac
tures, and commerce of the world be without
them? And what would the state be without
these arts and sciences? — without agriculture,
manufactures, and commerce 1
But there is no such dominion in heaven.
Imagination has transferred many earthly things
to that blissful region, but none of these. A sky
is there, with only one cloud, and that merely to
shade the throne and show the rainbow. Moun
tains are there for sublimity, hills for picturesque
variety, and vales for beauty. A city is there
with innumerable mansions for eternal homes.
A paradise is there with inexhaustible resources
of perpetual delights, with living winds, living
waters, living trees, and living flowers, blowing,
and flowing, and waving, and breathing forever.
But, not to degrade the allusion, it is enough to
say that, except man himself, imagination leaves
the living things of earth where it finds them. A
pagan or a Mohammedan heaven, indeed, may
not be so select ; but the Christian heaven is in
finitely higher and purer than theirs. No mock
ing-bird sings on the Tree of Life ; no gold-fish
gleams in the River of Life ; and no lion over
looks, from any tufted lair, the Plains of Life.

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 21
Not even a lamb is there, — the symbol of Jesus.
Not even a dove is there, — the symbol of the
Holy Ghost. Heaven is the home of intellect.
Heaven is the home of affection. Heaven is the
home of knowledge and wisdom, of holiness and
joy. Nothing less than a saint or an angel treads
the golden pavement, traces the fadeless paradise,
approaches the throne of glory, or flies away from
it, on missions of mercy and peace, to other
worlds. There, at least, — if such distinctive
names are not utterly unknown, — the church and
state are one.
But what is the condition of the state here ?
What is it in comparison with its proper constitu
tional ideal ?
It has become almost entirely separate from
revelation. I cannot, indeed, say that the history
of the state, in this connection, has been a history
of change. There never was but one fair instance
of the state's conjunction with and dependence
upon Divine revelation. I allude, of course, to
thje Jewish theocracy; and that was neither of
great duration or great expansion. With this
exception, the state has generally remained aloof
from revelation, and has been only indirectly
influenced by it.
One reason — perhaps the chief reason — of the

22 THE BIBLE AND
separation of nominally-Christian states from
revelation is to be found in their general union
with what are properly enough called the state
churches. These churches have come between
the state and the Bible. They have eclipsed the
Bible, and, by so doing, have darkened the
states. The fact that no such union exists in
our own free and happy country is one of the
greatest blessings we enjoy. Here there is no
eclipsing apostasy. I will not say that there is
no dark orb, astray from an older and melan
choly firmament, which would fain intrude be
tween our new heavens and earth. But, so far,
there is nothing to prevent the Bible from
shining in all its glory on all our State. So —
thank God! — it does shine! So, God grant
that it may continue to shine forever ! And, as
God himself is in this light, may all the nation
rejoice to walk in the light, loving and serving
Him who gives it !
The main difference between the church and
state, in this connection, is this : — that, while the
acknowledgment of revelation is essential to the
existence of the church, it is not essential to the
existence, but merely to the perfection, of the state.
There have always been states without revelation.

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 23
So there are now. True, this condition will not
always remain. The state, according to prophecy,
is to be brought up, in some form, to its proper
intention. For the time-being, however, it seems
to be the plan of God, in His government of the
world, to employ the two institutions for the ac
complishment of purposes which neither of them
could fulfil alone. I mean, that the church, in
structed by revelation, is bound to teach what
ought to be and will be ; while the state, in par
tial separateness from revelation, shows what is,
and, for a time, must be. At present, the state,
generally speaking, has no wisdom but human
wisdom. Of course, it has no infallible authority.
It needs to be taught itself.
In hopeful conclusion of this topic, however,
let me submit these statements. The Bible
shows God's way alone ; the church shows God's
way and man's way united ; the state shows
man's way alone. The result will be the triumph
of God's way. The Bible will secure its due
supremacy. The church will abandon all false
authority, obeying and exemplifying the Bible.
The state will be merged in the church, or the
two institutions act as departments of the same
agency. And so, as first the star, and then the
3*

24 THE BIBLE AND OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES.
moon, hide themselves in the sunrise, thus state
authority, and church authority, as now exer
cised, will be lost in the boundless simplicity
and glory of the infallible authority of the
Bible.

SERMON II.

THE BIBLE AND OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES.

"Thou liast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
In the former sermon I commenced a review of
the character and claims of the four current au
thorities which are variously but vainly brought
into competition with the Bible. The manner in
which their character was then noticed renders it
the less necessary now to expatiate largely on their
claims. Let us treat them in the same order.
I. THE CLAIMS OF CREATION.
Creation presents no claim to infallibility, —
except in one relation, which no change can es
sentially effect. I mean, the doctrine of the Di
vine existence, power, and sovereignty. What
ever the condition of nature may be, though it
descend from perfection through all degrees of
25

26 THE BIBLE AND
imperfection, this doctrine remains unimpaired,—
an absolute, universal, and perpetual demonstra
tion. The existence of evil, as well as of good,
implies the existence of a Creator; and creation,
whether of good or evil, implies infinite power and
sovereignty. A demonstration, however, though
perfect in itself, does not necessarily imply the
ability of observers to comprehend it.
It is a remarkable fact that Revelation, the vin
dicator and interpreter of Creation, makes no
claim for it beyond this. Natural theology claims
more; but herein is the deadly vice of natural
theology. Not natural theologians, who are often
the mere imitators of ancient heathen philoso
phers or modern scientific skeptics, but spiritual
theologians, the sanctified oracles of the Holy
Ghost, are our authorities.
The nineteenth Psalm may be cited as condens
ing the instruction of the Old Testament on this
subject. Its statements are wonderfully distinct
ive and decisive. It consists of two parts, — the
first referring to Creation and the second to Reve
lation; the former claiming all that can be justly
claimed in behalf of nature, and the latter proving
that God has magnified His word above nature.
The first part opens thus : —

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 27
" The heavens declare the glory of God : and
the firmament showeth his handiwork."
That is all ! The sky is contemplated in its two
chief conditions; both demonstrating the exist
ence of God, but each peculiar in its testimony
to His character: — the day-heavens, full of one
common and all-commanding glory, declaring His
sole and omnipotent sovereignty ; and the night-
firmament, myriadly variegated by milder splen
dors, showing the diversity and delicacy of His
wisdom and skill. The succeeding verses say no
more. They merely amplify this opening : —
" Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night showeth knowledge."
The days are eloquent ; the nights silent. The
days speak; the nights show. But what do the
days speak? The same that "the heavens de
clare." And what do the nights show? The
same that "the firmament showeth." And yet,
this is not mere repetition: but "day unto day
uttereth [this] speech;" and "night unto night
showeth [this] knowledge," — so that every day
learns it, and every night learns it; and every day
teaches it, and eveiy night teaches it; and thus
the sublime tradition is perpetuated, without a
moment's intermission, from age to age.
" There is no speech nor language, where their

28 THE BIBLE AND
voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through
all the earth, and their words to the end of the
world." That is, the testimony, whether properly under
stood or not, is as universal as it is perpetual.
Still, however, it is the same, — everywhere the
same. There is nowhere any addition to it. So,
in what follows, of the sun : —
"In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun;
which is as a bridegroom coming out of his cham
ber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven,
and his circuit unto the ends of it ; and there is
nothing hid from the heat thereof."
The sun appears gay and brilliant as a bride
groom, strong and swift as a racer, and with the
whole circuit of heaven and earth before him ;
but he does not appear as a witness to any further
truth in regard to the Divine character. The
testimony remains precisely as it was, — the mag
nificent tribute of creation to the being, power,
and skill of the Creator, but nothing more.
Now see how differently the second part of the
Psalm opens. It quits the range of nature, and
comes within the limits of inspiration. It drops
the name of God, and substitutes that of the Lord
or Jehovah, — a name that nature never knew, a

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 29
name peculiar to revelation and redemption. It
drops, also, all natural symbols, and brings us at
once to the living word. And thus it magnifies
the word : —
" The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the
soul: " The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple:
"The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing
the heart:
"The commandment of the Lord is pure, en
lightening the eyes :
"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for
ever: " The judgments of the Lord are true and right
eous altogether.
"More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold ; sweeter also than honey and
the honey-comb."
Richer than the treasures, and more delightful
than the pleasures, of nature ! And so the Psalm
proceeds, closing with the prayer : —
"Let the words of my mouth, and the medita
tion of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, 0
Lord, my strength and my redeemer."
The two spheres are entirely different; and the
superiority of the spiritual must be instantly and

30 THE BIBLE AND
impressively evident. Here, both the moral cha
racter and redeeming purposes of God are dis
closed. The perfections of the law reflect His
own perfections. Its objects are His objects.
Infinitely holy and happy in Himself, He seeks
the holiness and happiness of mankind. All this
is apart from nature, and above it. The heavens,
glorious as they are, declare it not; and the firma
ment, beautiful as it is, shows it not. Day unto
day uttereth no speech, and night unto night show
eth no knowledge, like this. Through all the
earth, to the end of the world, there is no speech
nor language where this voice is heard; nor does
the sun, in all his circuit, searching as are his
beams, discover any thing resembling it, except
the developments of its own extending influence.
In like manner, the first chapter of the Epistle
to the Romans may be cited, as concentrating the
intelligence of the New Testament, in this con
nection. Here, also, as in the Psalm just noticed,
we distinguish two parts, but in reversed order, —
the spiritual first, and then the natural. In the
former, the apostle proclaims the excellency of
revelation; asserting, in particular, that he is
"not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," — which
is the sum of all revelation, — because " it is the
power of God unto salvation;" that is, the power

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 31
of God as displayed not in creation, but in re
demption ; not by nature, but by grace. In the
latter part, he opens the awful contrast to this, —
claiming for creation, indeed, all that ought to be
claimed for it, but at the same time confessing its
insufficiency, and proving the absolute necessity
of revelation : —
" For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men who hold the truth in unrighteousness ; because
that whiGh may be known of God is manifest in
[or to] them; for God hath showed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation
of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power
and godhead ; so that they are without excuse."
Now, what is "the truth" which men in their
best condition, under the natural system alone,
may be said to "hold"? Plainly, according to
the apostle's statement, it is the doctrine of the
existence, power, and sovereignty of God, — this,
and no more! And how do they hold it? In
unrighteousness ; in all impiety and iniquity ;
gradually losing their original clear perception of
it; perverting and abusing it; descending, as
described in the conclusion of the chapter, to
the lowest depths of idolatry and immorality,

32 THE BIBLE AND
and becoming unutterably vile and abominable.
Against all this ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men God reveals His wrath from heaven.
Speaking with all reverence, He appears not as He
would, but as He must; not in love, but in anger;
not with good, but with evil. This is the current
presentation of nature. Not only is it true that
"the heavens declare the glory of God, and the
firmament showeth his handiwork," but it is
equally true that they declare and show, by day
and night, all round the globe, His omnipotence
in vengeance for the sins of our race. Just as sin
is everywhere, so sorrow is everywhere and death
is everywhere. The disguise of God is terrible.
H we would see Him without disguise, see Him
as He is, and as He desires to be universally
known, we must turn back from creation to reve
lation, from nature to grace, from the wrathful
heavens to "the gospel of Christ," from His power
in restraint or punishment of sin to the same
power in deliverance from sin.
In short, in all that relates to the moral cha
racter of God, the testimony of creation, in its
present estate, is defective, disturbed, and con
fused. Moreover, as, if necessary, might also be
shown at large, in all that relates to human his
tory, duty, and destiny, it is nearly silent. From

OTHER 3URRENT AUTHORITIES. 33
the time of the first great change, no nation,
tribe, or person has ever acquired clear and full
knowledge of either God or man from nature
alone.

II. THE CLAIMS OF PROVIDENCE.
The study of Providence leads to the same
result. Its action, in great part, is sensible ; but
it does not always reveal the principles on which
it acts. Its movements are so constant, compli
cated, numerous, and various, — sometimes so un
expected and seemingly contradictory, — that it is
utterly impossible to understand the system with
out a supernatural teacher. Like creation, it
presents no claim to infallible authority on its
own part ; and revelation, which is its vindicator
and interpreter also, makes no such claim for it.
The strongest inspired affirmation is this: — that
God, who "in times past suffered all nations to
walk in their own ways, nevertheless left not
himself without witness, in that he did good, and
gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling
our hearts with food and gladness." That is, "in
wrath" He remembered "mercy," — wherever prac
ticable, preferring the administration of good to
that of evil. We cannot indeed resist the im
pression of goodness produced by the general

34 THE BIBLE AND
regularity and rich supplies of the seasons. Bad
as man is, he has never yet been abandoned to a
whole year of winter. Relenting a little at the
pleasantness of the thought, it may be remarked
that summer has never for so long a time bidden
farewell to Cape Farewell, nor withdrawn for
such an interval her cornucopia from Cape Horn.
Within the tropics, however, thousands of years
of summer have been known. And, as to the
temperate zones, our fine old world, ever vibrating
northward and southward, has continued to bowl
around the sun, expanding its belts of white
and green and red and yellow, in all the signifi
cant diversity and loveliness of ever-changing
repose and revival, bloom and growth. The hea
ven has not withheld its rain, nor the earth its
fruit. Our bodies have been nourished by the
abounding food, and our spirits refreshed by the
abounding gladness. To indulge a little further
in familiar figures: — spring is as welcome as a
virgin sister, half tears and half smiles, yet ever
full of wit and love and joy and grace and health
and beauty. Summer is as welcome as a thought
ful and skilful mother, glowing over many a whole
some and grateful preparation, and crowding eveiy
nook of home with stores for future comfort.
Autumn is as welcome as a prudent father, who,

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 35
by long-continued toil and care, has completed
the accumulations which he now soberly contem
plates, and by which he perfects the ingatherings
of his younger and fairer partner. And even win
ter is as welcome as a historical and prophetical
grandfather, — outwardly severe and frosty, but
inwardly warm and cheerful; remembering well
that the world is not as it was in the spring, but
foreseeing as cleai'ly that another spring is com
ing, and so abiding in hope, prompt with sage
advice and maxims often proved. Still, returning
to more important and literal truth, it must be
considered that all this is partial testimony ; that
even the seasons themselves often give counter-
statements ; that many providential movements,
gentle as well as violent, are most mysteriously
and awfully destructive ; and that, in a word, the
system neither directly nor indirectly claims the
office of infallible instruction.
III. THE CLAIMS OF CHURCH AND STATE.
Having thus glanced at the fact that the two
great natural authorities do not claim infallibility,
I prefer, for the sake of general and brief state-
mints, to notice the remaining fact — that the two
great social authorities do claim infallibility — with
out division of topics. 4*

36 THE BIBLE AND
It is not too much to say, that both Church
and State often, perhaps generally, if not indeed
always, claim infallibility. Nor only so ; but they
claim it as Divine. They do not pretend that
mere human wisdom is infallible. They assert a
Divine gift, an official prerogative. They are in
fallible in virtue of their origin, and as essential
to their office.
Even a slight acquaintance with civil and eccle
siastical history is sufficient to assure us that the
fact is as thus reported. In some cases, the as
sumption is formally prominent; in all, substan
tially observable.
In civil history it stands thus, — representing
monarchies, aristocracies, and republics or de
mocracies : —
1. The voice of the king is the voice of God !
2. The voice of the nobles is the voice of God !
3. The voice of the people is the voice of God !
In ecclesiastical history it may be found thus, —
representing Roman and Greek Catholics, the Pro
testant State Establishments and dissenters from
them, and the coequal denominations and con
gregations of our own country : —
1. The voice of the pope is the voice of God !
2. The voice of the council is the voice of God !
3. The voice of the church is the voice of God !

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 37
4. The voice of our church is the voice of God !
That is, the voice of the present power, what
ever it may be, is the voice of God ! All parties,
to a greater or less extent, challenge this same
high regency. The unrelenting rigor of their
governments, the severity of their administra
tions, the technical obstinacy of their creeds and
statutes, the pains and penalties they have in
flicted and still inflict, their uncompromising con
troversies about things of little interest, their
wilful neglect of other things of greatest moment,
their undervaluation of manly freedom and bro
therly charity, their overvaluation of slavish and
unimprovable conformity and uniformity, — these
and innumerable other evidences are all confirma
tory of this actual characteristic or prevailing
tendency. In all these connections, the agents, however
externally diversified, compose but two classes,
which are easily distinguished. They are either
believers or unbelievers, zealots or hypocrites,
fanatics or impostors : or, in the first class, those
who are honest in their claims, however deluded;
and, in the second, those who are either above or
below delusion, deliberately and selfishly dishonest.
Whether, however, honest or dishonest, — sadly, in
either case, as they are unfit for the office, — these,

38 THE BIBLE AND
too often, nay, generally, are the leaders of the
world, — either its tyrants or deceivers, the fool-
makers or slave-makers of the rest of the race.
Notwithstanding the obvious fact, that these
authorities do, formally or virtually, urge this
claim, it is still more obvious, if possible, that it
is not to be justified, has no proper sanction, is a
miserable and abominable imposition.
The state infallible ! Put the history of mon
archies under the title, — the voice of the king is
ihe voice of God. Put the history of aristocracies
¦ander the title, — the voice of the nobles is the
voice of God. Put the history of republics or
democracies under the title, — the voice of the
people is the voice of God. And what blasphemy
is here !
So it is with the church. The church infallible !
Put the history of Roman or Greek Catholicism
under the motto, — the voice of the pope, or patri
arch, or council, is the voice of God. Put the his
tory of the church, in any of its forms, or the his
tory of our church, in any of its forms, under the
vaunted vanity, — its voice is the voice of God.
And who that has any reverence for God 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; who that has any
love for truth or righteousness ; who that has any
respect for himself, or sympathy with mankind,

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 39
can suppress the kindlings of indignation, or
withhold the burning utterance of intensest wrath
and scorn? Away with such absurdities and
cruelties! — away with them, at once and for
ever! One test is enough, — one incomparable historic
illustration, — infinitely solemn and forever decisive.
On some occasion, when it was said, The voice of
the people is the voice of God! it was replied,
Not so : for, when the Son of God came into the
world, the people cried, Away with Him! Let
Him be crucified ! But, admirable as this reply
was, the case in whole is more significant and im
pressive than it thus appears. The truth is, that
case brings to the test and condemns all the classes
and claims of which I have spoken.
Behold the scene ! The trial of Christ is the
trial of the world. To justify the world were to
condemn Christ; to justify Christ condemns the
world. All civil authorities are here represented: —
monarchy, (though not in person,) by Csesar ; aris
tocracy, by Pilate and Herod ; and democracy, by
the masses of the people. In like manner, all
ecclesiastical authorities are here represented: —
the pope or patriarch, by the high priest; the
council, by the Sanhedrim; the church, by the

40 THE BIBLE AND
Pharisees ; and our church, by the Sadducees and
others. Here they stand, circle within circle, rank above
rank, in mighty, multitudinous, and tumultuous
pressure. And here stands, in the midst of all
and apparent to all, the only-begotten and dearly-
beloved Son of God, the gracious Redeemer and
glorious Sovereign of the world.
And are not the angels, of all orders, here?
And are not the saints, of all ages, here ? And is
not God, himself, here ?
And what is the voice of God? To the angels
" he saith, And let all the angels of God worship
him !" And lo ! they do worship Him, more pro
foundly and solemnly, if not more readily, than
when He first came into the world. And to the
saints, and to the world, God saith, "This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased : hear
ye him." And the saints do hear Him, though
the world will not hear. "But unto the Son he
saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever: a
sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy
kingdom: thou hast loved righteousness and
hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows." But what is the voice of the Church? And

OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES. 41
what is the voice of the State? The grandest
occasion in the history of the world has now
come for the demonstration of their consonance
with the voice of God. Let them speak. And
hark !
The voice of the High Priest, or pope, is, Crucify
him !
And the voice of the Sanhedrim, or council, is,
Crucify him !
And the voice of the Pharisees, or the church,
is, Crucify him !
And the voice of the Sadducees, or our church,
is, Crucify him !
And so, the voice of Caesar, or the king, is,
Crucify him !
And the voice of Herod and Pilate, or the
nobles, is, Crucify him !
And the voice of the masses of the people is,
Away with him ! away with him ! crucify him !
crucify him !
And so, directly, having meekly endured all
passing indignities and pains, there hangs, on the
cross of Calvary, the cold corpse of Him whose
proper place is in the glory of the throne and the
glow of the bosom of God.
HoW often, since then, have popes, councils, and
churches, kings, nobles, and peoples, "crucified

42 THE BIBLE AND OTHER CURRENT AUTHORITIES.
the Lord afresh and put Him to an open shame" !
Alas for their pretensions to infallibility ! Alas
for the servility of persons who submit to such
pretensions I

SERMON III.

THE BIBLE AND OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES.

"Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
Is there any scene on earth so sublime as this ?
Not one. Architectural provision may be vastly
more magnificent. Instrumental accessories may
be far more attractive. The assemblage of per
sons may be innumerably greater. The official
organization may be incomparably more impos
ing. And the common object may seem to com
mand a higher interest. But, in reality, there is
no such scene as this. What are the halls of art
and science, of philosophy and literature; what
are the courts of civic rule ; what are the cathe
drals of ecclesiastic superstition ; what are they —
with all their charming appointments, and all their
enthusiast crowds, and all their splendid hierar
chies, and all their fugitive aims, and all the
5 43

44 THE BIBLE AND
traditional, conventional, conflicting, and ever-
changing authorities which control and dishonor
them, — what are they all, in comparison with this
or any similar congregation, made solemn by the
dignity, liberty, and sympathy of assured and
earnest immortality; worshipping God, in the
Spirit of God, around the open word of God, look
ing, longing, and laboring only for the coming and
the greeting ofthe kingdom of God ! Do I mistake
you, my friends ? God forbid. Surely He smiles
on such a scene ! And, hark ! it is the Bath Koi —
the daughter of the voice — the call from heaven :
"0 earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!"
On former occasions, the proposition was sub
mitted for demonstration, that the Bible is the
only sensible, infallible, and Divine authority on
earth : i.e. the only authority combining these dis
tinctions. On those occasions, I reviewed the
character and claims of four other authorities,
which are variously brought into competition with
the Bible, — viz.: Creation and Providence, the
Church and the State. It was acknowledged, of
course, that these are sensible authorities; and,
moreover, that, to a greater or less extent, they
are Divine authorities. But I trust it was demon
strated that they are not infallible authorities.

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 45
They possess, therefore, only two of the three dis
tinctions attributed to the Bible; and, lacking the
third, they leave the Bible, as affirmed in its be
half, alone in its glory.
In order to make the demonstration the more
complete, I now design to notice these facts: —
1. That there have been other authorities which
combined the three distinctions of the Bible ; but,
2. That all these other authorities have been with
drawn from the world, still leaving the Bible in
sole supremacy.
I. ANCIENT SENSIBLE, INFALLIBLE, AND DIVINE
AUTHORITIES.
The very existence of the Bible presupposes
these. Its character was determined by them. It
is itself, indeed, in part at least, the record of
them. And it is to this record, of course, that we
are indebted for our knowledge of them. They
occupied the whole interval from the creation of
Adam to the end of the first century of the Chris
tian era. I allude to elect men, to angels, and to
Christ, — the one Mediator.
Elect men have held this high position : — patri
archs, priests, prophets, apostles, and evangelists,
— some of them regularly, in virtue of their rank ;
others occasionally, without regard to rank, to

46 THE BIBLE AND
meet special exigencies. They received their
inspiration by means of duly-modified natural
dreams; or supernatural open visions; or silent
spiritual suggestions; or outward intelligible
voices; or other appointed .and reliable modes.
Now, I do not say of them that, under all circum
stances, and merely as men, they were free from
error. The doctrine itself implies the opposite
fact. But, as elect men, as inspired men, when
they acted officially, — when they spoke or wrote as
prophets, as apostles, as the anointed orators or
amanuenses of the Holy Ghost, — then they were
infallible. The Divine omniscience was exercised
through them without hinderance and without mis
take. In the saintly meekness, in the sacred sub
limity of their sanctified persons, they stood forth,
in the presence of the church and the world, in
visible, audible, infallible administration of the
authority of God.
Elect angels, also, have been employed in the
same way. Their general ministry I need not
notice. Quick as thought, wide as space, and per
petual as time, it must be indeed a grand and
mighty agency. But here I speak of their special
ministry, — their manifested ministry. The philoso
phy of it, I pass. It is enough for my purpose to
treat it as a conceded fact. The instances of it

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 47
are too numerous to be cited. The manner of
their appearance and disappearance seems to have
been as easy and changeable as volition. In most
cases, they wore the guise of men and acted like
men, though apparently superior in countenance,
bearing, and speech. In some cases, personal
names are applied to them. In others, their
social orders are designated. In all, their mis
sion, both in purpose and performance, is worthy
of their nature and relations. Let this suffice ; or,
if a more poetic reminiscence be desirable, it is
enough to add, as somewhat significant of the
fairer ideal, that, with the bloom of unfading
beauty on their cheeks ; with the light of tearless
joy in their eyes; with the music of immutable
truth on their tongues; with the pulse and the
impulse of eternal life and love in their hearts;
and with the glory of heaven's highest noon still
lingering among their pinions and flashing from
their plumes, — often, more swiftly and brightly
than the sunbeams, have they made the descent
from their world of bliss to our world of woe, in
sensible and infallible revelation of the authority
of God.
Not only so : but, now, it becomes us to notice
the more important and impressive fact, that One,
different from the prophets, different from the
5*

48 THE BIBLE AND
apostles, different from the angels, — above them
all, as well as different from aU, — having " obtained
by inheritance a more excellent name than they,"
even the name of "the only-begotten Son of God,"
— that He, "the Christ," the "one Mediator be
tween God and men," has Himself filled, and to
a great extent fulfilled, in a manner peculiar, in
comparable, redeeming, and adorable, the same
gracious office.
I introduced these ancient infallible authorities
with the remark that they occupied the interval
from the creation of Adam to the close of the first
century of the Christian era. But now it is ne
cessary to specify and distinguish the fact that it
was Christ alone who personally and regularly
maintained this position during that long lapse
of four thousand years. Even the oldest of the
patriarchs did not reach one thousand years. The
priests and prophets of the Jewish economy, and
the apostles and evangelists of our own, belonged
to generations as rapid in their succession as the
present. The angels, indeed, were immortal.
They lived through the whole time. It is possi
ble that the same groups which sang over Eden
chanted still more joyously over Bethlehem. But
the angels, as subordinate agents, were only em
ployed occasionally and interchangeably in sensi-

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 49
ble visitations. For aught we know, the angel
that delivered Peter from prison was never on
earth before. But Christ — and this is the great
fact I desire to state clearly and surely, — Christ, as
the Supreme Agent, lord alike of angels and men,
having in charge both the work of creation and the
work of redemption, superintended the entire pro
gress of affairs, and manifested Himself, at His own
will, whenever, wherever, and however He pleased.
What is the Bible? Pre-eminently, it is the
Book of Christ. What is the Old Testament in
particular ? It is the history of the manifestations
of Christ without ihe flesh. And what is the New
Testament in particular ? It is the history of the
manifestation of Christ in the flesh.
Who was the God that walked and talked with
Adam among the sinless bowers of Paradise ? —
and with Enoch, before his translation ? — and with
Noah, both before and after the flood ? — and with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in their pious migra
tions and worshipful repose ? Who was it that so
thrillingly called to Moses from the burning bush
and revealed Himself, not only as "the God of
thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob," but, also, as the "I
Am" ? Who. was it that so awfully announced
from the midst of the fires of Sinai the precepts of

50 THE BIBLE AND
the Decalogue,— that First Sermon on the Mount,
of which the one in the New Testament contains
the proper exposition and illustration? Who was
it that shaded Moses in the cleft of the rock, and
passed before him in the cloud, and proclaimed
His name and the meaning of His name — the
standard statement of His character, for common
confidence and appeal — to all succeeding genera
tions ? Who was it that responded to the priests
in the oracles of the Sanctuary and the Shekinah
during the ages of the Tabernacle and the Temple ?
Who was it that, by all the sensible methods which
have been a]luded to, qualified the long series of
prophets for their surpassingly eloquent and sub
duing challenges to rulers and people: — "Thus
saith the Lord!" and again, "Therefore saith the
Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel ;"
and again, "Hear, 0 heavens; and give ear, O
earth ; for the Lord hath spoken" ?
Who was it ? Does any one answer, " It was the
Father" ? Then, what is the meaning of St. John's
assertion: — "No man hath seen God at any time:
the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him" ? Christ was
seen — both seen and heard, seen and heard as God
— at many times, in various forms, and on various
occasions. All this was in fulfilment of His Me-

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 51
diatorial Office. But the Father was never seen :
neither seen or heard. I do not remember that
the Old Testament contains any intimation, even
of the existence of the Father, — whether by dis
tinction of persons between the Father and the
Son, or in any other way, — that is not plainly a
revelation of the Father by means of the Son !
For instance, the 2d Psalm is supposed to dis
tinguish the Father and the Son : the Father giv
ing, and the Son receiving, universal dominion.
But who is it that makes the revelation? Cer
tainly, it is the Son. "J will declare the decree:
the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son;
this day have I begotten thee," &c. So in the
110th Psalm, which, indeed, Christ applies to
Himself in the New Testament, David says, "The
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
Now, how did David know what the Father said
unto the Son ? Did he hear him say it ? Not at
all. But, as in the former instance, the Son Him
self revealed it unto him. This is sufficiently inti
mated by the fact that David styles the Son " my
Lord :" i.e. the Mediator, with whom alone (and not
with the Father) the Psalmist held communica
tion, and by whose spirit or voice he was in
structed or inspired. In a word, it seems that the

52 THE BIBLE AND
revelation of the Father, which was generally
withheld from men and angels, was intentionally
reserved to glorify the ministry of the Son, in
the flesh. "All things are delivered unto me of
my Father," said Christ, "and no man knoweth
the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom
soever the Son will reveal him." So it had been
from the beginning: the Son was the revealer;
not the Father. "Ye have neither heard his
voice at any time, nor seen his shape," said the
Son, to the Jews. It was His own voice which
had been heard; and His own shape which had
been seen.
It will not do, therefore, to say that it was the
Father who appeared to the patriarchs and pro
phets. Nay; it was His Mediatorial Son. And
this view is in strict accordance with all the lan
guage of Christ and His apostles.
What said Jesus? Hear His assertion of His
pre-existence : — "Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet
fifty years old; and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Before Abraham was, I am." This state
ment, you perceive, antedates, in its reference, the'

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 53
very origin of the Bible. Abraham died some
three centuries before Moses wrote the first sen
tence of the Bible. But Christ said, "Before
Abraham was, I am." How long before? At
the time of Noah, of Enoch, of Adam ? Certainly,
before all ; but how long before the first man, nor
man nor angel may presume to tell. Who shall
compute the generation of Him who calls Him
self the "I am?" — importing that He never was
less, and can never be more, than He now is: a
saying, indeed, which is only expanded in one of
His last claims in the last chapter of the Bible : —
"I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the
End, the First and the Last;" and, especially, the
Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End,
the First and the Last, of the Bible.
But come within the limits of the composition
of the Old Testament, and you will see that it is
distinctively and peculiarly devoted to the Son,
rather than to the Father. Hear the reference of
Christ to the author of its first five books: — "Had
ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me :
for he wrote of me." See that! — Moses wrote, not
of the Father, but, of Christ. Surely, this is not an
allusion to any one passage alone; but to all the
writings of Moses. His communion was with the
Son; and therefore he wrote of the Son. On

54 THE BIBLE AND
other occasions, our Lord just as distinctly claimed
all the other writers of the Old Testament as His
special witnesses. So it is said, "Beginning at
Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures the things concerning him
self." And again: "All things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses, and in
the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."
And again : " Search the Scriptures ; for in them
ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me." True, it may be said, that
some of these allusions are merely to predictions
of the New Dispensation, rather than to actions per
formed under the Old: but the fact is, the pre
dictions involve actions; for it was Christ who
gave the predictions to the prophets, before the
prophets gave them to the nation and to the world.
And here the language of the apostles becomes
doubly corroborative ; for they not only declared,
again and again, that " all the prophets" had fore
told the occurrences of their days : that to Christ
gave "all the prophets witness :" that "the testi
mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," — i.e. the
sum and substance, the very life and glory, of it :
but they also declared, that it was uthe spirit of
Christ" himself "which was in" the prophets, and
" testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 55
the glory that should follow." They did not,
therefore, hesitate to style Him, in accordance
with all these intimations, — "Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, and to-day, and forever," — i.e. the
same in all the past, the present, and the future !
But now let us turn from the many manifesta
tions of Christ without the flesh, to His one, open,
and prolonged manifestation in the flesh.
I do not now inquire, Who was the God that
walked and talked with Adam among the sinless
bowers of Paradise ? But — the new-born Babe,
that slept in the manger, at Bethlehem : the young
child, so hastily carried into Egypt, to save its life :
the sprightly prattler, so cautiously brought back,
and secluded in Nazareth : the marvellous boy of
twelve, who confounded the doctors in the temple,
at Jerusalem: — who was .Be? Hark! "Wist ye
not that I must be about my Father's business?"
Who is He ? — the Bevecder of the Father I But let
us proceed. That young man of thirty, receiving
baptism, in Jordan, at the reluctant and tremu
lous hands of the boldest of prophets : that faint
one of the wilderness, assailed by the Tempter
who triumphed in Eden: that tried and faithful
one, returning to Galilee, assuming the office of a
teacher, coming to Nazareth, and standing up in
the synagogue, among the wondering friends of

56 THE BIBLE AND
his youth, as a reader and expounder of the word
of God :— who is He ? Hark ! " The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to
heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to
the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year ofthe Lord:" — " This day is
this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." What ! Is this
gentle Nazarene the great subject of prophecy?
But let us proceed. That meek but mighty ora
tor, attracting to himself great multitudes from all
the districts of Syria, assembling them on the
mountain, seating himself in sight of all, and
commanding them with ease by a voice that
searches the soul as well as the ear, and never fails
to reach its utmost mark: that majestic expounder
of the Law of Sinai ; who, though no cloud gathers
round him, and no trumpet is blown, and no light
ning flashes, and no thunder peals, and no rock
quivers, to attest his authority, and no frightened
auditors exclaim to their fellow-man, " Speak thou
with us, and we will hear : but let not God speak
with us, lest we die !" — does, nevertheless, beneath
a smiling sky, and in the midst of a lovely land
scape, and in the solemn hush of universal admira
tion and wonder, absolutely "magnify the Law,"

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 57
and make it more "honorable" than ever; excel=
ling, apparently without an effort, its first procla
mation, and sending it forth again, with extended
powers and renewed sanctions, to all nations,
and for all time — the Mediatorial Message to the
Whole World — the Miracle of Morals, above all
praise, irresistible in its demonstrations, and im
mutable as the kingdom of God : — who — I again
demand — whoisiZe? Hark again! "Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven !" See !
It is the Son, — revealing the Father! But let us
proceed. That speaker of speakers, coming down
from the mountain, and showing himself imme
diately as the worker of workers, — cleansing the
leper, at his feet, by a word ; by another word, or
without a word, healing the centurion's servant,
at a distance; touching the sick, and dispersing
their maladies; cowering the storm into dumb
ness, by his rebuke ; dispossessing demoniacs, and
driving their tormentors, like thievish slaves, from
his presence: that worker of countless miracles,
on other occasions — not only remedying all the
ills of life, but recovering the very victims of
death — filling the cities and the deserts, the moun
tains and the seas, the earth and the skies, with

58 THE BIBLE AND
the proofs of his limitless control : — who is He ?
Plark again! "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he
seeth the Father do : for what things soever he
doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." See!
Still it is the Son revealing the Father ! But let
us proceed. That sufferer of sufferers, homeless,
distrusted by his kinsmen, troubled by the in
gratitude of his beneficiaries, by the waywardness
of his disciples, by the dulness and even the
treachery of his apostles, and by the unrelenting
malignity of his enemies : that benevolent sufferer,
oppressed, above all, by the sorrows,' and especially
by the sins, of all mankind; and so brought down
at last to the agony of Gethsemane and the cruci
fixion of Calvary : — who, oh, who is He ? Hark
again ! " 0 my Father, if this cup may not pass
away from me except I drink it, thy will be done !"
And again : at the cross itself, — "Father, forgive
them: for they know not what they do!" See!
Still it is the Son, mediating with the Father.
But let us proceed. That sleeper in the sepul
chre : that first example of immortal resurrection :
that serene one, ascending in triumph to the skies:
— who is He? Hark again! "All power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye,
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 59
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded j^ou : and lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Amen." See that ! Still it is the Son revealing
the Father, and providing for the proclamation of
the intelligence, under his own superintendency,
by the agency of the Holy Ghost, and the instru
mentality of the ministry, through all the world,
and to the end of the world.
But it may be that all this will be admitted by
some, who, nevertheless, object to the notion that
this Revealer of the Father, in the New Testa
ment, is the same Being who appears, and speaks,
and acts as God, throughout the Old Testament.
For their sakes, let me close this point with the
distinct and decisive testimony of "the disciple
whom Jesus loved:" — "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word loas
God. The same loas in the beginning with God"
What did this Word do? "All things were made
by Him ; and without Him was not any thing
made that was made." Did this creation include
living things ? Certainly : for " in Him," it is added,
"was life;" and therefore he was qualified to com
municate life. But did it include mankind, in par
ticular? Certainly: and therefore it is added, —

60 THE BIBLE AND
"and the life was the light of men:" men deriving
not only their life, but their light, or intelligence,
from Him. And did this "light" continue with
men after their creation ? Certainly : and there
fore it is added, — " and the light shineth in dark
ness, and the darkness comprehended it not." It
shone through all the ages preceding the Christian
dispensation ; but all history shows that it was not
comprehended. What then ? Then, as the apos
tle proceeds, came John the Baptist, and then
came Christ, — i.e. the Word. Therefore it is
added, — "And the Word" — Le. of course, the same
original, divine, all-creating, and all-revealing
Word — "was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-be
gotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."-
Here, then, I rest this point, having been
strangely, unexpectedly, reluctantly, and even
laboriously, led to protracted consideration of it,
-^it may be, providentially, for some appropriate
and useful purpose.
According to all these scriptures, therefore, if
they be rightly understood, the whole interval from
the creation of Adam to the close of the first cen
tury of the -Christian era was occupied, as occasion
required, by the exhibition of sensible, infallible,
and Divine authorities, in the persons of elect men,

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 61
in the missions of holy angels, and, above all, in the
mediatorial superintendency ofthe Christ, the Son
of the living God,— "the brightness of the Father's
glory, and the express image of his person," — mani
fested, in various ways, out of the flesh, under pre
ceding dispensations; and in the flesh, as Jesus
of Nazareth, at the commencement of our own.
But now I must glance, at least, at the fact, that
these authorities have been all withdrawn from the
world, thus leaving the Bible in its sole supremacy.
II.— THE ANCIENT AUTHORITIES WITHDRAWN.
And is it not so ? Where are the apostles now ?
Successors, of the apostles are said to exist; but
they are afraid of the name, and without the signs.
Why do they not call themselves apostles, and
prove themselves apostles? Have they seen the
Lord ? Have they been taught by Him, and com
missioned by Him ? Are they in any proper sense
His personal witnesses ? Where is the Saul, among
them all, to whom our ascended Redeepier has
returned to reveal His glory, as to "one born out
of due time" ? Where is the apostolic brow, with
its crown of cool flame, singeing not a single hair?
Where is the apostolic tongue, modulating into
instant, accurate music, all the languages of the
earth? Where is the apostolic shadow, at the

62 THE BIBLE AND
passing touch of which sickness vanished and
health resumed its equal and gentle pulsations?
Or where is the apostolic hand, to add a Gospel,
an Epistle, or an Apocalypse, to the volume of
inspiration ?
And where are the prophets now ? Where is
the prophetic eye, with its picturesque and gorgeous
visions, seeing even "the Lord, sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up" ? Where is the pro
phetic ear, with its frequent and familiar oracles ?
hearing the six-winged seraphim responding to
each other, as they stand near the throne, "Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts ! the whole earth is
full of His glory!" Where is the prophetic lip,
touched by one of those same seraphim with "a
live coal" from the altar, and then replying to the
challenge of the Lord himself, "Here am I; send
me" ? Where is the prophetic spirit, let loose into
futurity, foretraversing ages, nations, and events,
and exulting in the accelerating progress and ulti
mate universal triumph of immortal redemption?
Where now is the Elijah, whose prayer shall be
answered by fire? Where now is the Samuel,
whose appeal shall be sustained by thunder?
Where even the priest, with the Urim and Thum
mim, or access to the veil that shades the Sheki-
nah? Where even the feeble and dying patriarch,

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 63
to turn his dim eyes on "the last days," and see
them flashing with the fortunes of his mighty
descendants? Where, especially, is the modern
Moses, to wield a shepherd's rod as the symbol of
omnipotence ; to smite an empire till it trembles at
his feet ; to smite the sea, and behold it sundered
from shore to shore ; and to touch the desert, and
see its sands, rocks, and skies filled with daily
miracles for the support of a nation of emancipated
but murmuring slaves ? Where now is such an one
as this, who, laying his rod aside, shall stand
between divinity on the cliff and humanity in the
vale, and pass the law of the world from one to the
other ?
And where are the angels now? The light
comes as ever ; but where is the guest that once
came with it? Down to its window among the
homes of Judea, the turtle-dove glides as serenely
as of old. And down to its tufted nest on the
greensward of England, the sky-lark drops from
his welcome to the sunrise. And down to his
mountain-eyrie in our own Western wilds, the
eagle sweeps from his farewell to the sunset. But
where is the sky that glitters with the pinions
of angels now? Or where is the landscape that
gleams with their reposing beauty and living mi
nistry? The morning star returns; but where are

64 THE BIBLE AND
the Morning Stars ? The sun shakes his locks in
the east; but where are the Sons of God? Where
is Gabriel ? where is Michael ? where are all their
singing and shouting hosts? Heaven is open as
ever; nay, it is more open than ever; but to the
natural eye, and to the natural ear, how empty,
and how still ! And yet more, infinitely more, —
Where is the Christ now? Where is the one Me
diator between God and men ?
Where is the Eden in which He walks ? Where
the Hebron at whose tent He rests? Where the
Bethel which He brightens with visions of heaven ?
Where the shining bush from which He speaks ?
Where the clouded cliff from which He gives law?
Where the Joshua whom He cheers to battle?
Where the Samuel whom He calls, even in child
hood, to judgment? Where the Elijah, whom He
charms by a " still small voice," more mighty than
whirlwind, earthquake, and fire ? Where the priest
to whom he responds ? Where the Shekinah in
which he dwells ? Where the prophet whom He
inspires ? Where the king with whom He enters
into covenant? But let the Old Dispensation pass.
Come to the New. Where is the Son of man ?
Did He not say that His disciples would desire to
see one of His days, and should not see it? Where
is He, the contrasts of whose character and condi-

OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 65
tion were so wonderfully symbolized by the man
ger in which He slept, and the star that watched
over Him ; by the shepherds who came in from
the fields, and the angels who sent them with
music and glory from heaven ; by the dull ones
around Him, who heeded Him not, and the wise
men who brought Him rich gifts from afar ; by the
carpenter who fostered Him, as if His father, and
the Architect of the universe, who was His Father ;
— in a word, by the cross on which He died, and the
throne to which He ascended ? Where is He, the
weeper at the grave of Lazarus, His young and
beloved friend ? Where is He, the transfigured One
of the mountain, with His ancient friends from
Sinai and Horeb — Moses and Elias — seated by His
side? Where is the Mourner of Gethsemane?
Where is the Sufferer of Calvary? All we can
answer is this : He is the One "whom, having not
seen, we love, in whom, though now we see Him
not, yet, believing, we rejoice, with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of our faith,
even the salvation of our souls."
The ancient authorities being thus withdrawn,
the Bible alone remains visibly supreme.

SERMON IV.

THE CURRENT CONDITION OF THE BIBLE'.

"Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxrviii. 2.
In the preceding sermon I noticed these facts : —
1. That there were certain authorities which com
bined the three distinctions of the Bible ; but, 2.
That these ancient -authorities have been with
drawn from the world, — still leaving the Bible in
sole visible supremacy. Those authorities were
Elect Men, Elect Angels, and the Messiah, the
Christ, the " one Mediator between God and
men." Now, I design to indulge in various contem
plations of this remarkable current condition.
The past, indeed, must still receive an occasional
glance; but the chief views will relate to the
present. And may the Spirit of truth lead us
into all truth !
66

CURRENT CONDITION OF THE BIBLE. 67
To one surveying this whole field of the Divine
administration, and observing the personal re
tirement of the Elect Agents from the circle of
sensible, infallible, and Divine authority, leaving
it all still and lonely, and the world apparently
without any sufficient guide, such questions as the
following, it seems, would be suggested.
What now? Is there no sensible, infallible,
and Divine authority on earth? Shall God per
mit the two great natural systems to be impaired
and obscured: — Creation to become almost un
intelligible, except in expression of his power andv.
sovereignty, and Providence to embarrass us by
the innumerable inconsistencies of its results with
our instinctive anticipations, — and yet do nothing
to remedy these defects, or supply the wants they
occasion? Shall He allow the two great social
systems to be so disordered, also, as to become
incompetent to the proper discharge of their high
functions, and yet develop no corrective agency?
Shall the State be suffered to adopt false prin
ciples, embody them in degrading and oppressive
measui'es, and impose them, by the concentrate
energies of its complicated faculties, on all na
tions and all generations, and nothing be done
to arrest the evil ? Shall the Church be suffered,
as if a mere State instrument, to adopt similar

68 THE CURRENT CONDITION
principles, embody them in similar measures,
and impose them by similar powers and with
similar results, — only modified into agreement
with subtler prejudices and infinitely prouder
pretensions, — and no check be imposed, either for
the safety of humanity or the credit of Divinity ?
And, moreover, shall even the occasional reliefs
of the olden time — when the earth was not a
hundredth part explored, and our race was not a
hundredth part expanded, and all the interests of
its separate families and tribes were so divided,
secluded, and inconsiderable, in comparison with
the interests of society now — be withdrawn from
us, every inspired man be withdrawn, and every
visible angel be withdrawn, and even our most
constant and unequalled friend, the adorable Me
diator himself, be personally withdrawn, and the
masses of mankind, in their .more enlarged, and
elevated, and thoughtful, and solemn, and even in
tensely anxious, modern conditions, be abandoned
to the errors, and follies, and crimes, and cruelties
of fallible, selfish, and wilful hypocrites and
tyrants ? In a word, shall the Highest look down
on such a scene as this, and still consent that
every source of true authority shall remain like a
sealed fountain among inaccessible rocks ? — rocks
whose shadows, dry and pitiless, fall on the barren

OF THE BIBLE. 69
sands of a perishing camp below? Or, rather,
shall God still consent that His own authority
shall be like a shaded sun, — a sun obscured, not
by earthly clouds, which an earthly wind might
remove, but by clouds of its own, drawn closely
and coldly around it, and therefore beyond the
control of the dependent planet that shivers and
dies for want of its beams ?
The answer to all such questions must be, No,
no : God is not thus careless of his intelligent
creatures ! He saw the end from the beginning.
He knew all the exigencies of human progress,
and made due provision to meet them. There is a
sensible, infallible, and Divine authority on earth !
There is one ; but only one. There is only one ;
but that one is enough ! And here it is ! — The
Bible ! I look at it, — wonder at it, — cannot avoid
the inclination to reverence it. Jf it did not itself
rescue me from superstition, doubtless I should
superstitiously regard it. As it Is I confess that,
to me, a Bible in the hand of a child is a greater
marvel than the sun in mid-heaven ! That, indeed,
is a glorious symbol ; but this is more glorious !
God, himself, has magnified this above all his
name. See ! It is not enough to say that the Bible is
the only sensible, infallible, and Divine authority

70 THE CURRENT CONDITION
now remaining on earth. Much more than this
must be said. It has a comprehensiveness, com
pleteness, and fulness, far transcending such an
announcement. The truth is, all such authorities
are comprehended in this one ! See ! Did I say
there were such authorities in ancient times and
distant places, but that they are now all with
drawn ? Let me correct that error ; or, rather,
let me more exactly distinguish the truth. Behold
them ! they are here, — all here ! Here, — the past
is present ! Here, — the distant is at hand ! Here, —
the lost are found ! Here, — the dead are alive !
Lo ! the angels are here ! When the Lord laid
the foundations ofthe earth, did the morning stars
sing together, and all the sons of God shout for
joy? Hark! they sing yet! they shout yet! Do
you not hear them ? They are all here ! Did an
angel cheer Hagar in the wilderness ? Did angels
rest in the shade of the tree at the tent-door of
Abraham ? Did an angel restrain the sacrifice of
Isaac in the land of Moriah? Did angels lead
Lot out of Sodom? Did Jacob, in holy vision,
see their hosts descending and ascending, from
heaven to earth, and from earth to heaven ? Did
he meet them again at Mahanaim? Did they
pitch their camp on Sinai as the Israelites pitched
theirs in the plains below ? Did they appear to

OF THE BIBLE. 71
Balaam, to Joshua, to Gideon, to Manoah, to
Elijah, to David, to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to Daniel,
to Zechariah ? And, passing on to the New Testa
ment, did they appear also to Zacharias, and to
Mary, and to Joseph, and to the shepherds ? Did
they, indeed, when the Lord laid the foundations
of the new creation, — the Church of Christ, — sing
together again, and shout together again, even
more gladly than at first, — glorifying Christ by
their testimony, heaven and earth by their splen
dor, and God by their praise ? Did they minister
in the desert to their tempted but victorious Lord
and Master? Did they bring virtue to the pool
of Bethesda? Did they carry the beggar to
Abraham's bosom? Did they strengthen Christ
in the garden of Gethsemane ? and open the door
of his rocky chamber on the morning of the
Resurrection ? and comfort the weeping women,
seeking the living among the dead ? and instruct
the apostles gazing from the hill-side at their
ascending Lord ? and then accompany Him, with
their twenty thousand chariots of fire, in His
triumphant transit from the tomb to the throne?
Did some of them return, even after this ? — to re
lease Peter from prison ? to direct Cornelius to the
kingdom of God? to encourage Paul amid the
dangers of shipwreck? and, lastly, and most
7*

72 THE CURRENT CONDITION
gloriously, to open to John the Apocalypse of
ages ? — filling the vision with their own missions,
proclaiming prophecies, sealing saints, waving
censers, blowing trumpets, swearing the speedy
close of time, warring with the devil and his an
gels, bearing the everlasting gospel through the
midst of heaven, pouring out earth's last plagues
from golden vials, pronouncing the doom of
Babylon, binding the Dragon and casting him
into the bottomless pit, and so displaying, in the
close of all, the new heaven and new earth, the
holy city and its happy inhabitants, the infinite
grace and glory of the consummation of all things
in Christ Jesus our Lord ? Behold ! they are
here ! these angels are here ! — all here ! Various
and numerous as they are, not one is absent!
Gabriel, in all his wisdom, — Michael, in all his
majesty, — these, the very archangels, and all their
hosts, cherubim, and seraphim, thrones, and do
minions, and principalities, and powers, — all, all
are living, shining, and exulting here !
And so the Elect Men, as well as Angels, are
all here ! The patriarchs, priests, and prophets, —
the apostles and evangelists, — the princes of inspi
ration, — all are here ! Abel, Enoch, and Noah are
here ! Here Abraham still sees the day of Christ,
and is glad ! Here Jacob still gathers his children

OF THE BIBLE. 73
at his bedside, and tells them the things that shall
befall them in the last days ! Here Aaron and his
successors still bear upon their breasts the Urim
and Thummim ! Here Moses still trembles at the
bush, conquers in Egypt, listens from the cleft in
the rock, and rests in silence in the land of Moab !
Here Samuel still hears the God of grace whisper,
and the God of glory thunder ! Here Elijah
still stands on Carmel, calling fire from heaven,
and smiting to the ground, with a single stroke,
the opposing powers of earth and hell ! and here,
again, as seen on Horeb, at the searching sound
of the "still small voice" he covers his face with
his mantle, and worships the Lord of all ! Here,
also, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, with
the twelve minor prophets, from Hosea to Malachi,
still hold their high positions ! Here is the illumi
nated gallery in which their pictured visions are
suspended and inclined to the gaze of the world !
Here is the embroidered shrine from within
which their unfailing oracles unerringly report
the will of God ! Here is the temple-terrace, on
which they are arrayed, side by side, in immortal
beauty and rapture ; their eyes still sparkling, and
their lips still glowing, as they hold aloft the
records of their foresight for the study of gene
rations and the interpretation of time ! Here,

71 THE CURRENT CONDITION
too, the apostles still repose upon their promised
and peerless thrones ! The cool glory encircles
their brows yet, — crowns without pressure of pain,
or fear of forfeiture, or shade of future dimness-!
Moreover, and far more than of old, they still speak
with tongues, — many tongues, of lands and tribes
and nations then unknown! Here, too, their
very shadows still sweep, with healing virtue,
over the beds of disease and the wan eyes of
woe ! Here, too, their thrilling fingers still multi
ply, in new forms and for new subjects, the laws
of the Church, the original, unimprovable, and
unalterable instructions and institutions of the
Holy Ghost ! Here, too, they still see the Lord,
walking with Him from the beginning of His
ministry to its close; witnessing His ascension,
catching His spirit, and, in His name and power,
revolutionizing the Jewish and Gentile worlds!
Nor only so: but the evangelists, also, still sup
ply their humbler yet highly important fellowship.
Luke is still with Paul ; and the record still be
seeches Timothy to bring Mark with him, who,
notwithstanding one old disagreement, is thus
afterward acknowledged to be profitable to the
apostle for the ministry. In like manner, Philip
still interprets the prophecies ; Barnabas still dif
fuses consolation ; Timothy still illustrates the

OF THE BIBLE. 75
advantages of early scriptural training ; and Titus
still sets the Church in order, furnishing it with
elders, in every city, according to his appoint
ment ! Here, also, Stephen, the protomartyr,
still bears his testimony to the Messiah, bows
his shining face before the shower of stones, and
springs, with loving and exulting spirit, to the
outstretched arms of Jesus, at the right hand of
God! Nay, — more, far more, — Jesus himself is here, —
the one Mediator between God and men ! Here
is the Paradise in which His voice still resounds
in the cool of the day ! Here are the holy walks
where He converses with Enoch ! Here is the ark,
the door of which He shuts with His own hand, as
soon as Noah has entered ! Here is the summit,
overlooking Sodom, to which He is conducted by
Abraham, and where He still" relents to the patri
arch's pleadings ! Here is the spot, on the border
of the brook, where He still wrestles with Jacob
and enriches him with His blessing ! Here is the
burning bush, whence He still calls to Moses !
here the peak of Sinai, where He still proclaims
the law ! and here the Holy of Holies, where He
still inspires the Shekinah ! Here, also, are all
the localities of Egypt, Palestine, and Assyria,
where His prophetic spirit still prompts the chal-

76 THE CURRENT CONDITION
lenge of His dauntless heralds, — " Thus saith the
Lord!" And see! Here He is, as the babe of
Bethlehem; here He is, as the fugitive child
of the Nile; here He is, as the secluded boy
of Nazareth ; here He is, as the young Galilean,
baptized of John in the Jordan ; and here He is,
as the Incorruptible One, still showing, by His
defeat of the tempter in the desert of Judea, the
rescue of the honor of our race, so shamefully
betrayed in the Garden of Eden ! Here the whole
ministry of the Mediator is forever renewed !
Here He is, with all His doctrines, and precepts,
and parables, and prophecies, and promises, and
warnings, and personal exemplifications of the
true, and right, and good, and social institutions
and ordinances ! Here He is, with all His miracles
of mercy, and wisdom, and majesty, and power, —
wrought on persons and things and elements,
without life and with life, and all through life,
and even after death, — the countless preliminary
symbols of ultimate complete salvation ! Here He
is, moreover, with all His sufferings : — sufferings
occasioned by the lowliness of His lot, by the
dulness of His disciples, by the malice of His
enemies, by the subtle wrath of fiends, His re
jection by the Jews, His abandonment by the
Gentiles, His temporary estrangement from the

OF THE BIBLE. 77
Father, and the incalculable pressure of the bur
den of the sins of the whole world, from the be
ginning to the end of the world, on His own and
only shoulders ; crushing Him down, in all His
sinless beauty and love, into a cold and bloody
grave ! And yet here He is, also, with all His
triumphs ! — reappearing without a broken bone ;
whole, sound, immortal ; qualified alike for earth
and heaven ; wearing His wounds as seals of suc
cess, as stars of honor, as claims of reward and
power; and, thus recovered, rising to the sky, re
turning to the bosom of the Father, reigning and
rejoicing in the height of heaven, waiting for the
appointed time of His second advent, and antici
pating the happy moment when death, the last
enemy, shall be utterly and eternally destroyed!
Nay, more, — still more, — here is the Spirit, as
well as the Son ; and here is the Father, as well
as the Spirit ! The same Spirit that originally
"moved upon the face of the waters; " the Spirit
that garnishes the heavens and renews the face
of the earth; the Spirit that swept over Jeru
salem, on the day of Pentecost, in whirlwind and
fire, and concentrated its moral energies in the
souls of the apostles, and diffused them again
among the thousands of the people, demonstrating
the Messiahship of Jesus, and installing His ever-

78 THE CURRENT CONDITION
lasting kingdom on earth, — lo! that Spirit is
here, — moving on the waters yet, garnishing the
heavens yet, renewing the earth yet, establishing
and extending the kingdom of Christ in the souls
of men yet ! And the Father, — the long-unre-
vealed Father, — the eternally self-secluded and in
finitely incomprehensible Father, — lying, so to
speak, back of all, and yet who is at once above
all, through all, and in all, from whose eternal
glory the Son came when He entered the world,
and to whose eternal glory He returned when He
left the world, and in whose eternal glory He has
dwelt ever since He left the world, and now
dwells, and will forever dwell, and we, even we,
as we trust, with Him, — He also, the Father of
all, is here ! Here, at last, is the effulgent un
veiling of the exalted, incomparable, indisputable,
and inaccessible throne of His almightiness ! Here
is the ineffable and pre-eminent sovereignty of His
gentle and holy and unchangeable love ! In a
word, not only Elect Men and Angels, but Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, are all here ; here in a sense
of intelligible and Divine reality, sympathy, and
power, in comparison with which all other mate
rial symbols of the Deity, in all the universe, are
miserably and inexpressibly meagre and poor.
Nay, more, — much more, for all this is saying

OF THE BIBLE. 79
less than half of what ought to be said, — not only
is the Bible thus comprehensive of all the sensible,
infallible, and Divine authorities ever known in
the history of the world, but these authorities
have to us no assured existence or specific cha
racter except as asserted and received through
the Bible. In other terms, it has pleased God
so wonderfully to magnify His word above all His
name, that nothing satisfactory in relation to
these authorities can be derived from any other
source. I confess for myself, at once, and with all
frankness, that the question is, the Bible — or
atheism, anti-theism, or Pantheism ; any thing
rather than deism. Take away the Bible, and
you take away all the angels. Not a single cherub
or seraph, not a single throne, or dominion, or
principality, or power, not a single morning star,
or son of God, is left. Gabriel vanishes as a
phantom, and Michael melts into air and is seen
no more. Take away the Bible, and you take
away the elect succession of inspired men. Not a
single patriarch, or priest, or prophet, or apostle, or
evangelist remains, to proclaim or record a single
superhuman oracle. Moses and his law, Isaiah and
his visions, dissolve together. Matthew and his
Gospel, Paul and his epistles, perish in the same

80 THE CURRENT CONDITION
fire. Nay, more: take away the Bible, and you
take away the Lord Jesus Christ. No longer need
any disputes be held in regard to the nature, per
son, or office of Christ, His history, condition, or des
tiny ! All the magnificent apparatus in preparation
for His coming smokes and is gone ! The manger
in the stable, and the star in the sky, alike dis
appear ! The cross crumbles, the sepulchre sinks,
and the throne, well symbolized by the rainbow
that adorns it, like the rainbow vanishes away !
His pre-existence, His current existence, His whole
existence, is nothing. And so of the Holy Spirit :
take away the Bible, and the Spirit becomes a
ghost, indeed ; or, rather, less than a ghost. Like
a meteor, it flashes from darkness and falls into
the blackness of darkness. And so of the Father :
take away the Bible, and the Father retires into an
impenetrable seclusion, infinitely more oblivious
than was ever imagined before. And then, when
the earth is exhausted of every thing inspired, and
heaven of every thing angelic, and the universe
of every thing Divine, what is left? Ay, take
away the Bible, and what is left ? What ! Is man
left? And earth, and heaven, and the universe, —
are they all left ? Aha ! be it so. But what kind
of a man is left ? A man without a Maker, with
out a Savior, and without a soul ! a man without

OF THE BIBLE. 81
an origin, without a purpose, and without an end !
The noblest of beings, and yet the meanest and
most miserable, — all sensibility, sympathy, and
affection, yet sitting desolate and in sackcloth,
among the graves of dead friends, full himself of
living memories, ever moaning for the dead, but
without hope of their return, having no hope, but
that he and his children may likewise die and be
no more ! And what kind of an earth is left ?
and what kind of a heaven ? and what kind of a
universe ? Who cares what kind ! If man be
a worm, if angels be the spectres of worms, if
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be mere names with
out substance, — who cares what kind ! Let the
mountains still lift their sublime and glittering
peaks into the eternal solitudes of azure, silence,
and frost ; let the hills smooth down their tufted
and flowery slopes, enclosing with many a grace
ful curve the still softer beauty of the green and
golden vales, gurgling with shadowy fountains and
sparkling with rippling streams ; let the plains
expand from innumerable opening ravines into
broad plateaus and wide-rolling prairies, declining
from all sides to the level of mighty lakes and
the channels of far-flowing rivers, covering the
common vastness of the warm and teeming con
tinents with the ripe and varied richness of an

82 THE CURRENT CONDITION
endless succession of shining and showery sea
sons ; and let the seas and oceans, more free and
ample and united than the lands they wash, still
outline the continents and ring the islands with
their foam, and freshen the world with their airs,
and mirror at once in the boundless grandeur of
their brilliant repose the whole sphere of heaven,
both day and night, sun, moon, and stars, and
the crisp and scintillant suffusion of either pole, — •
ay, let the magnificent and gorgeous globe, with
all its boasted accommodations and embellish
ments, still sweep along its ethereal path, collect
ing and reflecting through ceaseless ages the lights
of all the orbs in space : — what is it, after all, but
a sepulchre ! — not a sealed sepulchre, for there is
neither enemy to make nor friend to break a seal ;
but an open, dismal, hopeless sepulchre, — ever
filling, but never to be filled, whirling through
immensity with unaccountable regularity and con
tinuance, rattling forever with the bones of the
dead, and forever whistling with the sighs and
roaring with the curses of the living !
And heaven too, — whether near or remote, —
let it still redden the stripes of mist along its
morning horizon, and mottle its noon with cloud
lets bright as shields of crystal and fair as shells
of pearl, and array its cliffs of snow in the yellow

OF THE BIBLE. 83
haze of sunset, kindling their turreted terraces
with unconsuming fire : or, expanding without a
shade to its clearest and utmost scope of perfect
blue, let the loftiest sun shed down the purest
day, or the lowlier moon arise to illumine the cone
of night, and the outer stars gleam in to show the
spheres beyond, and all its inaccessible enchant
ments continue eternally to multiply their splendid
and picturesque changes : — what is it, after all,
but a cold and careless void, — a void as deceitful
as it is inviting, — ever promising spirituality, im
mortality, and bliss, but which, in truth, is un
inhabited and uninhabitable ; blind, — even to its
own glory, — deaf, dumb, and dead; without a
refuge and without a friend !
And the universe in whole, — however immense
and illustrious, — let it still stretch away on every
side through all its gradations of visible stars, and
through all its telescopic ranges of almost in
discernible and utterly immeasurable nebulse, and
through all the more extended amplitudes of
imagination, even to the last possibilities of space :
with all its separate and yet sympathetic systems
perpetuating forever their radiant and reflected
admixture of variegated splendors, and multiply
ing forever their common interchanges of subtler
but all-controlling elements and powers: — what
8*

84 THE CURRENT CONDITION
is it, after all, but a larger void and a more ex
haustive contemplation, an infinite mystery of
substance and shadow, of solitude and silence,
of beauty without design, of order without law,
of harmony without enjoyment, and of innume
rable apparent effects, seeming to imply the per
fections and action of a God, but, nevertheless,
really existing without the slightest ascertainable
cause !
Oh, no, no, no : if the Bible and all it reveals
be taken away, if man be thus reduced to worse
than disinheritance and orphanage, it matters not
what kind of an earth or heaven or universe is
left to suspend its illusions along the line of his
momentary transit. Oh, my soul ! or, if indeed
I have no soul, still, Ah me ! whatever I am :
a conscious mystery in the midst of countless
conscious and unconscious mysteries: — what an
agony of wonder seizes, isolates, agitates, and
confounds my poor dissolving being !
But bring back the Bible. Hear its first verse : —
" In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth." And hear its last verse: — " The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
See ! there is the substance of it all, — God, Christ,
and man, the beginning and the end, creation and
redemption, heaven and earth, grace and glory.

OF THE BIBLE. 85
So be it ! The two verses sound like the fiat and
the fact, — "Light be, and light was !"
And lo ! the whole sphere of truth opens and
shines ! It is vaster than the earth, vaster than
heaven, vaster than the universe, — immense as
immensity itself, and eternal as eternity itself.
The Bible is the greater sun that glorifies it all ;
and standing here, like an angel in the sun, I re
joice to survey it all.
See ! the earth, as it rolls in this subtler and
purer light, instead of resembling a dreary and
wailing sepulchre, exults around all its golden
circle as the chosen though chastened province of
productive and distributive immortality, — letting
loose, in every moment of its motion and at every
point along its orbit, the redeemed and sanctified
spirits whose centrally-collected and innumerable
millions shall gird the throne of Omnipotence
with beauty and glory, with worship and service,
with music and rapture, forever and ev^r.
And heaven too, as here it expands, instead of
gleaming upon us as a deceptive, uninhabited,
and uninhabitable void, — although it exalts its
zenith and enlarges its horizon until it covers a
system rather than a planet, — ay, swells into the
sublimity of an infinite distance above and beyond
the whole universe, as easily as it shuts itselt

86 THE CURRENT CONDITION
down in many-colored airs to enclose the poles
of every little star, — still, this grand heaven of
heavens — one heaven full of innumerable hea
vens — supplies its utmost scope with saints and
angels, and opens to every world a gate of en
trance, a host of welcoming friends, a paradise of
boundless and fadeless attractions, and mansions
of perfect and perpetual repose.
And now, ineffably and inconceivably greater
than all, — greater than the changed earth and
universe and heaven, — God Himself returns. The
whole sphere of truth is the sphere of the Divine
existence and government. The Father comes
forth from His eternal seclusion, — not indeed to
become personally visible, but to utter His voice
from the sky, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased." And lo ! the Son him
self appears, — not indeed in the glory which He
had with the Father "before the world was," —
but humbling His sinless form to the waters of
baptism, and consecrating His life to the salvation
of the world. And lo ! the Holy Spirit also draws
near, descending as if from the bosom of the
Father, to adorn the brow and hallow the soul
of the Son with its hovering, dove-like beauty,
and its gentle, dove-like grace. And lo ! with
these, all truth returns. All the doctrines, all

OF THE BIBLE. 87
the laws, and al the ordinances of our holy re
ligion come back to us as familiar and trustworthy
realities. All the histories, psalms, proverbs, and
prophecies, — all the gospels, acts, epistles, and
apocalyptic symbols, — come back to us as divine
and immutable verities. Every one of us may
say, All is light. Sin is indeed sin. Redemption
is indeed redemption. By the grace of God, I
am saved. The Son is my Savior. The Spirit is
my Sanctifier. The Father is my Father. Saints
and angels are my brethren. Heaven is my home,
the universe is my range, and eternity is my life
time. Oh, spectacle of unparalleled sublimity ! — of in
exhaustible wonder ! All this is committed to a
book! Not to the Church; for where is the
Church, apart from the Bible, that can show us a
single inspired man, or ministering angel, or give
us even a glimpse of the Son of God ? Not to
the State ; for where is the State that furnishes
such revelations as these ? Not to Providence ;
for where is the token of any of them all, on
land or sea, by day or night, in all the compass
of the rolling seasons ? Not to Creation ; for
where is the distant moon, or sun, or star, or where
the pale, evangelical comet to make its apparition
from the mysteries of space, with sign or sound

88 THE CURRENT CONDITION
of such tidings as these? No, no: not even to
the persons of the first messengers are they any
longer confided. Just as God distrusts the Church
and distrusts the State, — for their history, as well
as his foresight, makes it needful and wise for Him
so to do, — and just as He teaches providence and
creation to keep their fingers on their lips and
walk their solemn rounds in perfect silence, so,
for reasons worthy of all concerned, He bids the
saints and angels stand aloof, detains His redeem
ing Son close by His side, declines any visible
manifestation even of His omnipresent Spirit, and,
so to speak, as if to put eternal glory and majesty
on the truth, — as if to show that by the seemingly
feeblest instrument He can readily achieve the
mightiest purposes, and as if at once to humble
and elevate mankind, — He drops from heaven to
earth a little book, to teach, reprove, and correct,
to subdue and govern the rebellious and haughty
world ! And here it is ! — the Bible, — the Bible,
as I love to repeat it, the only sensible, infallible,
and Divine authority on earth. So God has mag
nified His word above all His name !

SERMON Y.

THE BIBLE ABROAD IN ALL THE WORLD.

"Thoa hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
In the close of the last discourse, the Almighty
was represented as withholding His infallible
authority from Creation and Providence, from the
State and the Church ; as bidding His saints and
angels stand aloof, detaining His Son by His side,
declining any visible manifestation of His Spirit,
and then, as dropping from heaven to earth a
little book, to teach, reprove, and correct, — to
Bubdue and govern the rebellious and haughty
world. The question now arises, — Will the Bible suc
ceed? or, what shall prove its destiny?
Brethren of the Church ! — we, at least, have no
doubt of its success; no doubt of the ultimate
and eternal triumph of the truth. We accept its

90 THE BIBLE ABROAD
assurance as our own assurance. We remember
the language of our Savior in relation to the law : —
"Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass,
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, till all be fulfilled." Even the Jews should
rejoice in this: for their interest in it is equal to
ours. Heaven may pass away, earth may pass
away, — all of heaven, all of earth, massive and
glorious as they are, may pass away ; but " one
jot," (or yod,) the smallest of the Hebrew letters,
or "one tittle," (or point,) above, below, within,
or at the corner of a letter, — that is, the most in
finitesimal particle of the law, — shall in no wise
pass away, till all be fulfilled. In no wise shall
this happen. No forgetfulness or carelessness on
the part of God shall allow it; no vigilance or
craft on the part of Satan shall enable him to oc
casion it; no art, or skill, or cunning, or might,
or majesty, of any man or set of men, shall ever
procure such a result. This is settled, — settled in
heaven, and settled forever. So declares the
Psalmist : — " Forever, 0 Lord, thy world is settled
in heaven." The Lord, Himself, has so settled it.
Even if it were practicable to burn it out on earth
it would blaze abroad again in all the skies, — every
jot and tittle, or every yod and point, still shining
serene and uninjured in its proper place. And,

IN ALL THE WORLD. 91
as with the law, so it is with the gospel. Here
we recall the language of Peter, quoting and ap
plying the prophecy of Isaiah: — "For all flesh is
as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower
of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower
thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word" — adds
the apostle — "which by the oospel is preached
unto you." This is the verdure that never
withers. This is the bloom that never fades.
This is the life that never dies. This is the
glory that never declines. " The word of the
Lord endureth forever."
Nevertheless, let us candidly consider the mat
ter. Here, then, is the Book. According to the
distinctive designation of it all through this dis
cussion, it is a sensible authority, — the only Divine
and infallible authority in the world which is in a
sensible form. We see it, read it, hear it read,
handle it, measure it, weigh it ; treat it religiously
or curiously, critically or commercially, usefully
or hurtfully; in a word, do what we please with it,
as with any other book.
It comes to us alone, relying on its intrinsic
merits, and so submits itself to our discretion.
Its authors have no more to do with it. The first
of them died some thirty-three hundred years

92 THE BIBLE ABROAD
ago, and the last of them about seventeen hun
dred and fifty years ago. The persons it names,
and the generations to which they belonged, have
passed from the earth like morning shadows.
Many, if not most, of its tribes and nations have
ceased to exist. The cities they built, the king
doms they established, the empires they collected
and confirmed, are now no more. Some of their
ruins still linger in the midst of silent deserts;
but the Bible itself is the best monument of them
all. In like manner, the angels, whieh it men
tions so often, have no further visible connection
with it. Death, indeed, has never touched their
shining plumes; but restraint secludes them.
And so the Savior, whom it is the chief object
of the Book to reveal to the world as the true
"Desire of all Nations," affords it no longer any
visible support. Ever since its completion, He
has been hidden in the heavens, like a lost star.
And so the Holy Spirit has ceased to flash and
flame upon our vision in attestation of the truth.
And so the Eternal Father remains silent, — letting
all the ages pass without a word in its behalf. In
short, this asserted Supreme Authority, though
itself in sensible form, has no sensible miraculous
accompaniment, no supernatural magnificence or
splendor, no superhuman sanction or attraction

IN ALL THE WORLD. 93
of any kind, apart from its internal character, to
sustain its pretensions or give it a claim to any
extraordinary respect. Here it is, in all this ap
parent loneliness, in the hands of men, of indi
viduals and societies, of friends and foes, — more
foes, so far, than friends, — quietly and constantly
maintaining its mighty and momentous strug
gle. The first remark I have to make, and a suffi
cient one for the present discourse, is this: — The
Bible is now abroad in all the world, — so fairly and
fully exposed that it can never again be concealed.
There have been times, both before and since its
completion, when, in part or in whole, it was
withdrawn from society, and almost forgotten.
Prior to the restoration of the law by Ezra it ap
pears that the most of the books of the Old Testa
ment had well nigh perished. Under Antiochus
Epiphanes, all of them were ordered to be de
stroyed, and such persons as secreted any of them
were doomed to death. Under Dioclesian, an edict
was issued, requiring the whole Bible to be burnt,
throughout the whole Roman Empire, — on whieh
occasion myriads of Christians preferred death
with the Book to life without it. Finally, the
Church itself — that is, the Apostate Church — after
long-continued neglect or abuse of the Scriptures,

94 TOE BIBLE ABROAD
and consequent increasing corruption, formally
forbade their use to the laity, and still more
strictly prohibited the translation of them into
the vulgar tongue. What was forbidden to the
laity soon became useless to the clergy; and so,
before the age of Luther, the Bible had nearly
vanished from all observation.
But those times have passed, — never, we trust,
to be renewed. The Book is abroad in all the
world. Protestant Christendom is filled with it,
from centre to circumference. Around all the
borders of Romanism its voice is heard, like the
trumpet of the resurrection. The outposts of
Mohammedanism and Paganism are all startled
by the same awakening music. And, "whether
they will hear or whether they will forbear," it
is plain that, ere long, all mankind must acknow
ledge its presence and its power.
See ! the sensible form in whick it appears in
cludes a vast variety of modifications. As a
Book, it exists, of course, either in manuscript or
in print, and its records are either originals or
versions. It is a remarkable fact, that not a single auto
graph ofthe Holy Scriptures is known to be in ex
istence. On the other hand, it is at least possible
that not a single autograph has been destroyed.

IN ALL THE WORLD. 95
And it is a pleasant thought, that He who lived
from the beginning, and yet once "was dead," —
whose body lay in the grave, and whose soul en
tered the place of spirits, — who is now " alive for
evermore," and has "the keys of hell and of
death," of hades and of the grave, — who carries
these keys at His girdle, and hands them at His
will to Latrobe, or Layard, or any of His servants,
to open the galleries where He has treasured the
historic memorials of His reign and confirmations
of His word, — may sometime direct the unlock
ing of a chamber within which shall be found the
real originals of the Bible in unimpaired pre
servation. Meantime, the study of extant manuscripts,
especially of the accepted originals, both Hebrew
and Greek, must be exceedingly interesting to
those who are thoroughly qualified to -pursue it.
Even their external history is full of interest:
their number and age, the materials on which and
with which they were prepared, the extraordinary
care which was taken to make them accurate
and, in many instances, most richly beautiful, the
veneration with which they were preserved, the
costly collections and laborious collations of them,
their comparative critical reputation and influ
ence, their present local distribution and accessi
on

96 THE BIBLE ABROAD
bleness, — these, and other points, mignt well
claim, and would amply reward, attention. It is
enough, however, for the occasion, to compile the
following particulars.*
The Hebrew manuscripts are of two classes,
sacred and common, — or, synagogue-rolls and pri
vate copies. " The synagogue-rolls are uniform,
hardly differing one from another, — written on the
skins of clean animals, prepared for the particular
use of the synagogue by a Jew." The private
copies " are in different forms, — folio, quarto,
octavo, duodecimo, — and their material is mostly
parchment, sometimes Eastern paper, and even
common paper." Both kinds, of course, were
wrought with extraordinary care; but of the
former it may be said that it is almost impossible
to exaggerate the pains that were taken to secure
their accuracy and sanctity. As would be ex
pected, the more ancient they are the more rare
they are. Dr. Kennicott is said to have collated
six hundred and thirty, and De Rossi more than
four hundred, — the two "upwards of eleven hun
dred." Of Dr. Kennicott's, fifty-one were sup-
* See Dr. Davidson's volume, in the new edition of " Hokne's
Introduction," (1850.) The chapter on "Hebrew Manuscripts
may bo regarded as an improvement of the same writer's article in
" Kitto's Cyclopepia."

IN ALL THE WORLD. 97
posed to be from six to eight hundred years old,
and a hundred and seventy-four from four hun
dred and eighty to five hundred and eighty years
old. Of De Rossi's, some were said to be of the
seventh or eighth century, which would make
them now eleven or twelve hundred years old.
A more reliable current authority, however, not
long since declared that, so far " as certainty is
concerned," the "oldest Hebrew MS. at present
known belongs to a.d. 1106," — making it now
seven hundred and fifty-one years old. And yet
the same authority still more recently alludes to
another collation, "by Pinner, at Odessa," result
ing in the discovery of one MS. of the sixth cen
tury, (580,) two of the ninth, and two of the tenth,
— the oldest, if correctly represented, being twelve
hundred and seventy-seven years old. From these
dates they multiply to their whole present num
ber, — those which have been produced since the
fifteenth century being reported as " very nume
rous." The Greek manuscripts, the accepted originals
of the New Testament, are older than the He
brew. Their materials are vellum or paper. In
the oldest of them there are none of our common
divisions, but words and sentences flow on in un
broken lines of capital letters. In a brief list

98 THE BIBLE ABROAD
which I have examined, one is attributed to the
fourth century, two are ascribed to the fifth, five
to the sixth, six to the seventh, three to the
eighth, and eight to the ninth, — the earliest of
them, therefore, being some fifteen hundred years
old, and the latest about a thousand.
Similar brief notice might be taken of the
ancient versions, — whether Greek, Oriental, Latin,
Gothic, Slavonic, or Anglo-Saxon. The princi
pal of them number more than twenty; and, of
course, the design of making them was to present
the Divine Record in the living languages of the
people for common use. They were all vul-
gates. It is enough, however, for my purpose to add
the remark, that the world has been searched —
and is still being searched — by Jews, Romanists,
and Protestants, and that, as the result of the
search so far, copies of the most important of all
classes of sacred manuscripts, both originals and
versions, have been largely collected and dili
gently collated, and are now known, located,
numbered, described, and, in common with multi
tudes of inferior value distributed in public and
private libraries and among the synagogues and
monasteries of all lands, are generally free to scho
lastic investigation.

IN ALL THE WORLD. 99
It is in relation to modern versions, however,
that the fact I wish to illustrate becomes most im
pressive, and especially as connected with the
operations of the art of printing.
The first printed book was the' Latin Bible, —
the Mazarin Bible, as it is called, from the dis
covery of a copy of it, in the last century, in the
library of the cardinal of that name. The date
assigned to it is 1455. " We may see in imagi
nation," says Mr. Hallam, " this venerable and
splendid volume leading up the crowded myriads
of its followers, and imploring, as it were, a
blessing on the new art, by dedicating its first
fruits to the service of Heaven." Since then four
hundred years have gone by, and, to a consider
able extent, they have all been employed in print
ing Bibles. Within the last half-century, how
ever, an altogether incomparable work has been
accomplished, in this connection, by means of
Bible Societies. Since 1804, more than fifty-four
millions of Bibles and Testaments have been thus
distributed. The list of " languages into which
translations of the Scriptures have either been
made or attempted" included, six years ago, some
two hundred and seventy. Doubtless the number
has since increased. The versions, of course, are
much more numerous, as in many instances a

100 THE BIBLE ABROAD
single language, like our own, has quite a large
variety of them. In " The Bible of Every Land"
may be found about two hundred and seventy
" typographical specimens" of different transla
tions. Of these, nearly two hundred have been
published by the Bible Societies, and more than a
hundred and twenty of this number were " never
before printed." According to official state
ments, they have been circulated wherever prac
ticable, in adaptation to national and provincial
peculiarities, in every district of Western, North
ern, Central, and Southern Europe; in Russia; in
the Caucasian and other border-countries ; in Per
sia; in India, — Northern, Central, and Southern;
in Ceylon ; in the Indo-Chinese countries ; in the
Chinese Empire ; in- Hither Polynesia, Further
Polynesia, Africa, and America.
Meantime, as one effect of this universal
charity, the Bible trade, as it may be distinctively
called, instead of being checked, has been won
derfully quickened, strengthened, and enlarged.
Notwithstanding the copies given away, and the
readiness with which they may be almost any
where obtained, no book in the world sells like
the Bible. Within the period already alluded to,
therefore, thousands of private publishers — some
with state patronage, others with church patron-

IN ALL THE WORLD. 101
age, but most of them without either, and all far
more at liberty than the Bible Societies — have
issued, it is reported, upwards of fifty millions
more, seemingly in every possible diversity of style,
and accommodated to every age and condition of
life, every desire of taste, and every degree of
ability to buy.* In reality, however, it is believed
that the diversity has just begun, and that here
after it will be greatly extended and incomparably
improved. And now, tell me, — Is not the Bible fairly and
fully abroad, and beyond all possibility of re-
concealment ? Who can follow its flight ? Every
effort to do so is discouraging. Whatever centre
I occupy, I see the Bible passing away — in a
thousand forms, by a thousand lines — to the
utmost circumference. If I follow it in one line
the others are left unexplored. A sort of bird's-
eye view — or rather angel's view — is all that is
allowed me. To gain this, for a moment, I soar
into the sky and poise myself there.
And what now? I ask for the nations and
tribes who read the languages and dialects in
* A single Philadelphia house, as stated to the writer by one
of its members, has issued for the last fifteen years, year by year,
a larger number of Bibles than the American Bible Society !

102 THE BIBLE ABROAD
which the Bible has been so far printed. I wish
to see them in all their localities and other asso
ciations. "Fold your pinions," says the angel in the sun,
" and stand by my side. Instead of descending
in a moment, you must wait twenty-four hours,
and watch the revolution of the whole globe ; for
there is not a spot on its surface where some one
of these languages does not reach."
And so I wait and watch, and find it is even
so. I see these readers, — self-taught, mission-
taught, home-taught, -or school-taught, — in all
natural conditions, from the equator to the poles,
— enduring every climate, traversing every sea,
covering every continent, and filling every island,
— scaling the mountains, cultivating the plains,
girding and crossing the deserts. I see them in
all civil conditions, — savage, barbarian, semi-
civilized, and wholly civilized : among the latter,
monarchists, aristocrats, and republicans, abso
lutists, constitutionalists, and revolutionists. I
see them in all religious conditions, — Fetichists,
Foheists, Boodhists, Brahminists, Parseeists, Mo
hammedans, Jews, and Christians : among the lat
ter, Romanists and Jansenists, Orthodox Greeks
and Heterodox Greeks, Established Protestants
and Dissenting Protestants. I see them, more-

IN ALL THE WORLD. 103
over, in all social conditions, — sovereigns, nobles,
and magistrates; priests and pastors; scholars
and philosophers; professors of literature, sci
ence, and art; merchants and manufacturers;
mechanics and operatives ; farmers and planters ;
herdsmen and shepherds; hunters and fishermen;
soldiers and sailors; paupers and slaves; dwelling
in caves and thickets, in tents and huts, in cabins
and mansions, in castles and palaces, in colleges
and convents, in hamlets, towns, cities, and
mighty capitals, — or, again, off-shore, in canoes,
in ships, on vast rafts, or. in fixed fleets, — great
water-capitals rivalling those on land ; and, more
over, with all varieties of dress and address,
ceremonies, manners, customs and usages, at
births, weddings, and funerals, in private and in
public, in all the stages and relations of life, —
in connections quite innumerable and inde
scribable. Wherever I look, I see the same visitant, — the
Bible. Everywhere it bears the same message, —
the same to old nations and new, to the people
of yesterday and the people with a history of two
or three thousand years. Moreover, in substance
it is a message equally needed by all and equally
adapted to all.
I ask for the motives and objects of the various
10

104 THE BIBLE ABROAD
parties employed in this cause of Bible-distri
bution at home and abroad. Why is there so
much zeal in regard to this one book ? It is not
so with the sacred books of other religions. Even
the kings and priests having them in charge do
nothing to promote their circulation. Rather,
they are careful to keep them secluded. How is
this ? Why does not some one of the many Mo
hammedan nations form Koran Societies, to fill
the world with Korans ? Why are there no Zend-
Avesta Societies among the Parsees? Why no
Veda Societies among the Hindoos? Why no
King's Societies among the Chinese? Why no
Edda Societies among antiquarian Scandinavians ?
Is it not strange that there are no such Societies ?
And yet stranger facts are found nearer home.
Why have the Jews no Bible Societies? Why
the Roman Catholics none ? Why the Greek Ca
tholics none ? Why the Oriental Churches none ?
Nay, why are Unevangelical Protestants without
them? Nay, still further, why are some of our
Evangelical churches beginning to draw off and
stand aloof from the Bible Societies? As to
Pagans, they make no pretension to the means of
a common salvation. As to Mohammedans, if
they ever had such pretensions, they have lost
confidence in them. Besides, their trust was

IN ALL THE WORLD. 105
always in the sword rather than the book. As to
the Jews, they know that the Old Testament
alone is an imperfect revelation, and are waiting
themselves for the consummating development.
As to the Catholics, they all substitute the Church
for the Bible. As to Unevangelical Protestants,
they are •chilled by doubt and checked by error,
and can make no progress in good. And as to
the withdrawing Evangelicals, they are becoming
less Christian and more sectarian every day.
Only the Bible Societies, and their supporters of
all parties, seem to be influenced by the highest
motives and devoted to the noblest objects. In
contrast to Pagans, they do claim the means of
a common salvation. In contrast to Moham
medans, their confidence increases rather than de
clines. In contrast to Jews, they possess the per
fected revelation. In contrast to Catholics, they
acknowledge the Bible as infallible instead of the
Church. In contrast to the Unevangelicals, they
are all aglow with faith and impelled by truth.
And in contrast to their offended brethren among
the Evangelicals, they daily become less and less
sectarian and more and more Christian. In a
word, with certain exceptions which it may be
hoped will disappear, their motives and objects

106 THE BIBLE ABROAD
are worthy of all commendation, — immediately
and exclusively connected with the one all-suffi
cient and incomparable work of glorifying God
in the salvation of mankind. It is the just ap
preciation of their work in these two relations
that sustains their zeal. Private publishers, in
most instances, find their reward in pecuniary
profits. Sectarian publishers blend personal and
partisan interests in deceitful semblance of Chris
tian sublimity. But the true sublime is with those
who have nothing to do but to fill the world with
the highest truth for the glory of God and the
entire and eternal redemption of man. They "re
joice with joy unspeakable" that the Bible is at
last abroad in all the world, and that it can never
again be concealed. They are not like those who
fear for its fate. " Do not send it forth without
Tradition," say some. " Do not let it loose with
out the Apocrypha," say others. " Do not trust
it without the Prayer-Book," say others. " Do
not expose it without the Creed, or Confession, or
Constitution, or Platform, or Discipline," say
others. "We have no fear," reply the faithful
ones. " We would as soon charge God with folly
for issuing the sun without the pendant of a
lamp to illustrate it, as for issuing the Bible

IN ALL THE WORLD. 107
without the attachment of some human authority
to make it plain. No, no ; let it go, even as the
sun itself goes, asking no patronage of men or
angels, but demonstrating its Divinity by the
silent, serene, and blissful vitality of its supreme,
universal, and perpetual glory."

lu*

SERMON VI.

THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD IN ALL THE WORLD.

" Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
The chief difficulty in trie treatment of our sub
ject — especially as it opened before us in the last
discourse, and now continues open — arises from the
vastness and variety of the intelligence connected
with it. The Bible, as in part the oldest book in the
world, as a book, the successive portions of which
occupied, in their composition, more than fifteen
hundred years, and as one that has become in whole
the most sacred inheritance of mankind, has identi
fied itself, to a wonderful extent, with all anthropo
logy, geology, and astronomy ; with all chronology,
history, and geography ; with all government, laws,
and social institutions ; and with all religion, philo
sophy, literature, science, and art — in a word, with
108

THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD. 109
all the interests of our race. To illustrate this uni
versal identification, by a statement of all the facts
in the case, is manifestly impracticable, within the
necessary limits of such discussions as these ; and,
whatever is said, in a summary way, the remem
brance of what remains unsaid leaves the statement,
at least in the consciousness of him who makes it,
painfully meagre and poor.
Still — abandoning all thought of developing the
theme according to its full capacity of expansion — I
return to it, on this occasion, in hope of exhibiting
some of the select points which are most important
to the purpose in hand, in a form which, however
condensed, may, nevertheless, prove somewhat in
teresting and useful, and so afford a becoming con
tinuance, though not a conclusion of the whole dis
cussion. On the preceding occasion a single point was no
ticed, viz : That the Bible is abroad in all the World:
so fairly and fully exposed that it can never again
be concealed. It is now designed to notice two of
certain remaining points.
The first of these is — that the Bible was in
tended TO BE THUS MADE KNOWN TO THE WORLD.
This is proved by its Character. There is nothing
in it that needs or asks concealment. There is no

110 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
priest-craft in it. There is no king-craft in it. There
is no special class-craft of any kind in it. On the
contrary, it manifestly seeks the benefit of all classes.
If it show any partiality it is not for rulers either in
State or Church, but for the great masses of mankind,
and especially for the most poor and afflicted. It is
adapted to all. Examine it; analyze it; the Old
Testament, the New Testament; the covenants re
corded in both; in particular the two great cove
nants, the Law and the Gospel; the Histories, Psalms,
Proverbs, Prophecies, Biographies, Acts, Epistles,
and Symbolic Visions, connected with them, and
you cannot fail to perceive that the Bible is pre
eminently the People's Book, the Book, not of any
one nation alone, but of all nations.
This intention is proved also by its Origin. It
originated not esoterically or secretly, but exoteri-
cally or openly. Not a single one of its sixty-six
books was written in a dead or sacred character
unknown to the people. They were all written in
the living and common tongues of the times and
places in which they appeared. Moreover, the sub
stance of the most of them was orally proclaimed, in
some instances in the presence of the assembled na
tion, before it was committed to writing at all. Still
further, the authors of them, with few exceptions,

IN ALL THE WORLD. Ill
were neither kings or priests, courtiers or ecclesias
tics, but men of the people, shepherds, herdsmen,
publicans, fishermen, and others of similar classes.
The public intention is proved, also, by its own
Declarations. These are exceedingly interesting, and
I must dwell upon them, therefore, more at large, as
connected with the Law, Psalms, and Prophets, and
the Books of the New Testament.
Look, for instance, at the Law — the five books of
Moses. In the 6th ch. of Deuteronomy it is written :
"And these words which I command thee this day
shall be in thine heart : And thou shalt teach them
diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for
a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon
the posts of thine house, and on thy gates." Such
was the provision made for personal and family
acquaintance with the Law. It was to be the light
of every home in the land.
In the 8th ch. the Israelites were taught that all
the severe discipline they had undergone in the
desert, for forty years, was designed to teach them
this great truth—" that man doth not live by bread

112 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of the Lord, doth man live." That is — their
Law, their Religion, their communion with God by
means of His word, was to be regarded as the true
source and support of their personal and national
life — their common daily food from generation to
generation. In the 11th ch., the king, by anticipation, is re
quired to " write him a copy of this law in a book,
out of that which is before the priests, the Levites :
And," it is added, "it shall be with him, and he shaU
read therein all the days of his life," &c. So that
every palace was to be illumined, and every throne
was to be established by the Law.
In the 27th ch., is the record of an arrangement,
which was also made by anticipation, for the ratifi
cation of the Law, after the entrance into the Pro
mised Land, at Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, by the
whole assembled nation, men, women, and children,
and the strangers associating with them. In the 8th
ch. of Joshua, we learn that this ratification took
place according to the arrangement ; and certainly
it must have been one of the most grand and solemn
scenes ever witnessed. It is expressly stated, that
Joshua " read all the words of the law, the blessings
and cursings, according to all that is written in the

IN ALL THE WORLD. 113
book of the law. There was not a word of all that
Moses commanded which Joshua read not before all
the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the
little ones, and the strangers that were conversant
among them."
In the 30th ch. of Deuteronomy, again, there is a
passage, in which Moses seems to exult in the con
stant and universal nearness and accessibleness of
the law. "For, this commandment," he proceeds,
"which I command thee this day, it is not hidden
from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven
that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to
heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it,
and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou
shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and
bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth,
and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." What a
beautiful statement this is!
In the 31st ch., provision is made for the public
reading of the law every seven years ; in a manner
corresponding with the rehearsal of it by Joshua, as
already noticed. Moses commanded the Priests and
Elders, saying: "At the end of every seven years,
in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast
of tabernacles, when all Israel is come to appear be-

114 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
fore the Lord thy God in the place which he shall
choose, thou shalt read this law, before all Israel, in
their hearing. Gather the people together, men and
women, and children, and the stranger that is within
thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may
learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to
do all the words of this law. And that their children,
which have not known anything, may hear and learn
to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the
land whither ye go, over Jordan, to possess it." See
the earnestness of his desire that this publicity of the
law should be perpetual !
In the same chapter, however, anticipating the
rebellions of the people against God, Moses makes
still another provision to secure the law. Thus it is
said: — "And it came to pass, when Moses had made
an end of writing the words of this law in a book,
until they were finished, that Moses commanded
the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and
put it in the side of the ark of the covenant
of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a
witness against thee.'' See that ! the reason assign
ed, by the Inspired Law-giver himself, for this sacred
and secluded deposit of his autograph of the Law,
was this — that, if his design, in relation to the pub-

IN ALL THE WORLD. 115
lie preservation of the record, and its practical ob
servance, should indeed fail, the original document
might be brought forth, in vindication of his pur
pose, and in rebuke of a faithless posterity.
In so far as the Law, therefore, is concerned, there
cannot be the shadow of a doubt that it was intend
ed for universal and perpetual understanding among
all the tribes of Israel. Nor only so ; but, it is
equally evident that it was intended, in no small
degree, to be understood by surrounding nations ;
and so, though only preliminary to a brighter dis
pensation, to shine upon the heathen world, like the
sparkling ascent of the morning star. Thus Moses
himself declared — " This is your wisdom and your
understanding, in the sight of the nations, which
shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely -this
great nation is a wise and understanding people."
Look, also, at the Psalms — and you see at once
the express appeals to all the people. Thus in the
47th — "Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing
praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is
the King of all the earth." So, in the 49th— "Hear
this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of
the world. Both low and high, rich and poor to
gether." And again in the 50th — "The mighty
God, even the Lord hath spoken, and called the
11

116 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
earth, from the rising of the sun until the going
down thereof." And so, in the 67th — "God be
merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause his face to
shine upon us. That thy way may be known upon
earth, thy saving health among all nations. Let the
people praise thee, O God ; yea, let all the people
praise thee." And so, in the 100th — " Make a joy
ful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands." And so,
once more, in the 138th, the one containing our text
— " All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, 0
Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord; for
great is the glory of the Lord."
Look, also, at the Prophets — and the same fact is
prominent. Isaiah commences his prophecy with
the sublime challenge — " Hear, O heavens, and give
ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken !" In like
manner, Jeremiah exclaims — " Oh earth, earth, earth
hear the word of the Lord." And so, in other in
stances. When we come to the New Testament, we find
the same distinction. Rather, the intention of pub
licity is still more impressively demonstrated. The
openness of the Law is remembered ; and the Gos
pel is made still more popular and common.
" Search the Scriptures" was the direction of Christ,

IN ALL THE WORLD. 117
in relation to the records of the Old Dispensation :
and, in regard to the New, it is highly important,
that we never forget such passages as the following:
When " the high-priest asked Jesus of his disciples,
and of his doctrine — Jesus answered him : I spake
openly to the world : I ever taught in the synagogue,
and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort,
and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou
me ? Ask them which heard me, what I have said
unto them: behold, they know what I said." A
noble and glorious answer! In like manner, He
instructed his apostles to act. When He sent them
forth, during His own ministry, to "the house of
Israel" alone, He not only allowed, but commanded
them to make even His most private teachings pub
lic, and that at all hazards ; saying — " What I tell
you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what
ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house
tops. And fear not them which kill the body, but
are not able to kill the soul : but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell."
And so, when the final, perpetual, and grandest of
all commissions was given them, after the resurrec
tion of Christ, it reached the very climax of all ar
rangements for publicity, by saying : " Go ye into
all the world, and preach the Gospel to every crea-

118 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
ture." In short, the world itself is not more open
than the Gospel. And, as it is upon the tongue ; so,
of course, it is in the book. The Book, indeed, was
written only to make the whole revelation the more
public ; and to keep it so, without corruption or per
version, from generation to generation, and from
age to age. " I charge you," said Paul to the Thes
salonians, " I charge you by the Lord, that this
Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren." And
so, to the Colossians : " When this epistle is read
among you, cause that it be read also in the church
of the Laodiceans ; and that ye likewise read the
epistle from Laodicea." Hear, hear ! Read, read !
these are the salutations of our Holy Religion every
where! The glad tidings are for all people. Juda
ism itself, with all its openness, was like a beacon on
a mountain, or a light-house on the coast, in com
parison with Christianity. Christianity is like the
sun, detached from the earth, above it, circling all
around it, and covering it with boundless and end
less glory.
So much, then, for the first point — that the Bible
was intended to be open to the world — as proved by
its character, by its origin, and by its declarations.
To these proofs, I should be glad to add the illustra
tions offered by its history, both among Jews and

IN ALL THE WORLD. 119
Christians, in all the purer ages ofthe Church. But,
enough has been said : and yet, I trust, not a word
too much — for, in my own estimation, at least, it is
a matter of unsurpassed importance, and especially
in this age and in this country, to make it plain and
impressive, and to keep it so, before all the people,
that there is no secrecy, no concealment, no esoteric
training in the Religion of the Bible ! Here is the
Book ! and it is not more clear that, as already
shown, it is abroad in all the world, than it is that,
as now appears, it was intended to be so. It
makes no provision for retreat into any hiding-
places. It seeks no protection in obscurity. It
asks no patronage of Church or State. It stands
forth, on its own merits, and so challenges the sanc
tion of God and the confidence of mankind.
The seeond point is — that the Bible deserves to
be thus abroad in all the world. Innumerable
proofs are ready to respond to any proper call for
them here. One or two, however, will be abundantly
sufficient for the occasion. Passing, therefore, or
rather, remembering, as we pass, the various implied
distinctions of the divinity of its origin, the venera-
bleness of its antiquity, the grandeur of its doctrines,
the holiness of its precepts, and the sublimity of its
ordinances, the variety of its incidental intelligence,
11*

120 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
the sublimity and beauty of its style, and all similar
sources of argument and illustration— we may rest,
chiefly, on this fact— that the Bible interests the
world: is of real, great, matchless interest to all
mankind. It interests all Historically. The origin of our race
is here. The primitive and proper condition of our
race is here. The cause of its present and improper
condition is here. The equal brotherhood of our
race is here, with its early unity, its subsequent divi
sion of tongues and tribes, and the progress of terri
torial discoveries, and of national migrations and
settlements. In a word, the beginnings of all history
are here; and, without the Bible, there is nothing
worthy the name of history.
Again, it interests all Legally. The first principles
of all law are here — those principles which are essen
tial, universal, everlasting, and from which, therefore,
there is, and can be no appeal or escape. The master
truth is here evident, that the constitution of the
universe is a moral constitution; and, of course, that
all material elements and combinations, causes and
consequences, are subordinate to spiritual agencies
and destinies. Tbe moral law, therefore, comes first,
claiming voluntary obedience to God. The natural
law comes next, securing involuntary, mechanical,

IN ALL THE WORLD. 121
and disciplinary obedience to God, according to the
moral exigencies of His higher administration. Then
come civil law, and ecclesiastical law, as representa
tive modifications and adaptations of the Divine
Common Law ; both of them being bound by this
Common Law to the due observance of all personal,
domestic, and social rights — leaving all men free,
first of all, to fulfil their duties to their" God and to
their families, and then protecting and assisting them
in all proper efforts to promote their social and public
elevation and improvement. In a word, the begin
nings of all law are likewise here ; and without the
Bible there is nothing worthy the name of law.
Again, it interests all Evangelically. The con
sciousness of sin is universal. Whether the law of
God be in the heart alone, as among the heathen ; or
in the heart and Book both, as among ourselves; it
is not more plain that the law exists, than it is that
it has been broken. But, here is the atonement for
sin : an atonement made by the blood of the Son of
God, acting as Mediator between God and men ; an
atonement designed to make God and man one again :
an atonement, meeting the utmost claims of the law,
and proffering its benefits, without exception of na
tion or respect of person, to the whole world of trans
gressors. Here, moreover, is provision for the rege-

122 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
neration of our nature— that, being renewed by the
agency of the Holy Ghost, we may recover ability,
in spirit at least, to keep the law; awakening to a
life of holy love toward God and all our race. Here,
in a word, the consciousness of sin may be exchanged
for the consciousness of deliverance from sin ; all
remorse for the past, and fear of the future, being
succeeded by perfect peace, and the gladness and
glory of heavenly expectation. In all the world,
without the Bible, there is nothing which it would
not be an utter disgrace to call salvation.
Again, it interests all Prophetically. A better
time to come, has been the presentiment of every
age; the delusion, or the warranted assurance, of
all generations. With the Bible before us, we have
no doubt of the happier theory. God has declared
"the restitution of all things" — "by the mouth of all
his holy prophets since the world began." When
the promise of a Saviour was first announced in
the Garden of Eden, the Angel of Hope stood by
the side of the Almighty, and, as soon as she heard
the joyful news, began to sing the song that ever
since has charmed the waiting heavens and earth.
Paradise withered, indeed; and the outer world soon
smoked with the curse; but, when the last leaf fell
from the Tree of Life, and the first fire flashed from

IN ALL THE WORLD. 123
the volcanic peak, Hope, unalarmed, prolonged her
certain chant as sweetly and serenely as ever. Then
the Deluge swept from pole to pole ; but, over the
sea and over the storm the seraph sunned herself in
the smile of the Highest, and, now looking down
through the clouds at the Ark, and anon looking
up through the glory at the Throne, she floated
through the changeless sky with heart as calm and
plumes as smooth as ever — singing as soft a strain
and as sure a triumph as in any moment of beauty
and bliss before. True : when Jesus died, she did,
indeed, stand shuddering by the cross, hiding her
face with her wings ; and, when He was buried, she
sat in the shadow of His sepulchre, weeping with
sympathy if not with fear, and watching, wondering,
for the breaking of that strange repose ; but, when
He rose — instantly the morning star was startled,
and thrilled in its sphere, with the electric rapture of
her song renewed. And still she sings, though many,
now, alas! mistake her strain. "The good times
coming" are all her own, and infinitely better than
myriads of the friends of progress have ever imag
ined ; but, the Angel never forgets that Christ alone
can bring them ! The resurrection of Christ was the
pledge of our own resurrection ; the ascension of
Christ was the symbol of our own ascension ; and

124 THE BIBLE RIGHTLY ABROAD
the return of Christ will be the signal of the new
creation, and the consummate enthronement of im
mortal joy. Such is the prophecy of the Bible;
but, without the Bible, there is nothing worthy the
name of prophecy.
So much for the second point — that the Bible de
serves to be out before the world. It interests the
world — Historically, Legally, Evangelically, and Pro
phetically. I would like to add — Philosophically:
for the soul of all philosophy is here. I would like
to add, Poetically : for the bloom of all poetry is here.
I would like to add, Divinely: for the unveiled
splendor of the majesty and government of the
Eternal Jehovah is here. Here, and here only, is
an absolutely inexhaustible universe of reliable in
telligence : personally and socially, temporally and
eternally interesting to every faculty and to every
destiny of our race. But, these hints must suffice :
where the longest and richest discourse would still
fall short of the fulness of the theme.

SEKMON VII.

THE BIBLE OPPOSED.-!. ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION.

"Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
In the preceding discourse we noticed the fact
that the Bible is rightly abroad in all the
world, as» it was intended and deserves to be
thus made common.
On the present occasion we advance to another
fact in the same connection, — viz. : That the
Bible, being thus abroad in all the world, is
EXTENSIVELY AND VIOLENTLY OPPOSED. The proofs
here are sadly numerous and prominent. Rather,
they have multiplied into simple but awful illus
trations of an obvious fact which no one disputes.
It is only needful, therefore, to cite a few instances,
and form some estimate of their force.
The ancient opposition was either Jewish or

126 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
Pagan : Jewish, — against the Christian Scriptures
alone ; Pagan, — against the Jewish and Christian
Scriptures both. The Pagan opposition, in par
ticular, was either philosophical, mythological, or
political, — a defensive and desperate effort to repel
the unarmed but mighty and irresistible aggres
sions of Christianity on all the forms and interests
of scholastic speculation, popular idolatry, and
imperial corruption and oppression. In this con
nection, such names as those of Celsus, Porphyry,
Hierocles, and Julian appear.
The modern opposition has been, and is, either
Pagan, Mohammedan, Jewish, or nominally Chris
tian. Pagan opposition still numbers hundreds
of millions of persons, — constituting a large ma
jority of mankind; but, generally speaking, it is
ignorant, rude, and inactive, — a vast, passive mass,
surrounding Christendom, but apparently ready
to yield to united and earnest pressure at every
point. Both absolutely and relatively, it is a
very feeble obstruction, in comparison with the
dominant, haughty, and highly-accomplished hea
thenism of the olden times. Mohammedanism,
also, numbers more than a hundred millions of
opponents ; but this opposition, in like manner, is
passive, and fast yielding to pressure. It is now
as nothing, when compared with its terrific mag-

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 127
nificence in the Middle Ages. Jewish opposition
numbers, perhaps, from six to eight, or even ten,
millions, in all the world. But this also is pas
sive. Broken and scattered as it is, its fragments
lie hidden, or rise up lonely, in all regions of
society, like so many isolated rocks in all the
seas. These forms of hostility, therefore, may be
passed without further consideration. There is
nothing threatening in any of them. Rather,
they all invite exertions to subvert and remove
them. Would God there were union enough
among Christians to enable them to avail them
selves of the glorious opportunity !
Strange to say, however, it is within the range
of nominal Christendom that active hostility to
the Bible chiefly prevails. Here are the main
difficulties in the way of its universal circulation,
reception, and supremacy. This opposition may
be sufficiently intimated, in a summary way, as
Ecclesiastical, Civil, Social, and Personal.
I begin with the Ecclesiastical ; because, mar
vellous as the fact may seem, it is nevertheless in
stantly demonstrable that the root of the evil is
here. What is the chief organic power in Chris
tendom at the present moment? It must be
either the ecclesiastical or the civil; but which
of the two is it? It is a maxim that "In union
12

128 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
there is strength." Which, then, is the more
united? It it not the ecclesiastical? Do not
Grecianism, Romanism, and Protestantism cover,
or at least control, the whole Christian world?
See the Greek Church, — in Greece itself, and
throughout the tri-continental Russian Empire, to
say nothing of its extra and ancient connections
with Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and Abyssinia. See
the Roman Church, — in Italy, Austria, France,
Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia,
Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Brazil, Buenos Ayres, and
other smaller states, and the colonial dependencies
of all, — besides its tolerated and ambitious settle
ments in nearly all Protestant countries. And
see Protestantism, — notwithstanding its schisms,
still showing somewhat of a common sympathy,
— in Great Britain, Holland, Switzerland, Prussia,
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the United States,
with the colonial extensions of all throughout the
world. Now, is it not plain that either of these
three great ecclesiastical systems must be stronger
than any one of the civil powers within whose
limits it prevails ? Nay, in relation to the direc
tion of religious affairs, — which certainly are the
chief interests of mankind, — is it not plain that
the ecclesiastical system must be superior to all
the civil powers within its range ? For instance,

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 129
with regard to the attitude assumed toward the
Bible: will not the civil powers be greatly influ
enced, if not entirely controlled, by the authorita
tive dictation of the ecclesiastical system, or the
public sentiment excited by it? If the Greek
Church shall say, I think it expedient to dis
courage, or, at any rate, to restrict, the circulation
of the Bible, will not the states in which it is
established co-operate accordingly ? If the Roman
Church shall say, I positively prohibit the distri
bution of the Bible, will not the states in which it is
established enforce the prohibition ? If even the
Protestant Churches say, Beware of the Bible,
without some one of our conflicting creeds, litur
gies, or forms of government, to accompany it,
will not Protestant nations, however free and en
lightened, pause, and hesitate, and fear ?
See! we are not without facts in the case.
Rather, facts are innumerable, and of the most
impressive and decisive character. A brief glance
at the history of the British and Foreign Bible
Society will give us as many illustrations as we
need. This institution has just celebrated its first
jubilee ; having originated in 1803, — fifty years
ago. It had but one object, — the circulation of
the Scriptures, without note or comment, through
out the world. It cordially invited to its aid all

130 ME BIBLE opposed:
denominations of Christians. What was the re
sult? Besides other investigations, I have again
gone through Mr. Owen's history of the first ten
years of that Society — a book which I always read
with the greatest interest — on purpose to be able
to answer. A few words will suffice for a sum
mary statement.
The Greek Church, theoretically, concedes the
right and enjoins the duty of reading the Scrip
tures; meaning by the Scriptures the same
Canonical books as our own, — excluding the Apo
crypha. At first, the indications of favor on the
part of this Church . in relation to the Bible
Society were exceedingly encouraging. In 1813,
a national institution of this kind was formed in
St. Petersburg, under the immediate patronage
of the Emperor Alexander, and with the most
brilliant accompaniments of princely, prelatical,
and popular approbation and rejoicing. Indeed,
it is said that "Jews and Christians, Russians and
Armenians, Catholics and Protestants, with one
voice acknowledged that the British and Foreign
Bible Society was the wonder of the nineteenth
century, and the only adequate means ever de
vised for civilizing and evangelizing the world."
Thus emboldened, the St. Petersburg Society re
solved that its object should be " To provide every

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 131
family, and, if practicable, every individual in the
Mussian Empire, with a Bible, that invaluable gift
of heaven." It was expected that "the gospel
of the grace of God" would be made to " sound
out from the shores of the Baltic to the Eastern
Ocean, and from the Frozen Ocean to the Black
Sea and the borders of China, by putting into
the hands of Christians and Mohammedans, of
Lamaites and the votaries of Shaman, with many
other heathen tribes, the Oracles of the living
God." In a word, that year was to be "memo
rable" — on account of this Russian organization
— "to the latest posterity." In like manner, the
British Society was successful in Malta, Sicily, and
the Greek Islands, and, in 1814, " Cyril, Arch
bishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Oecu
menical Patriarch," declared "the object of the
Society highly laudable," approved its edition of
the New Testament in particular, and gave " per
mission for it to be used and read by all pious,
united, and orthodox Christians ; to be sold in the
booksellers' shops ; and to be bought freely by all
who wish it, without any one making the least
hesitation." By such combined means, it seemed
as though the utmost circumference of the Greek
Church was thrown open to unhindered Bible
occupancy. 12*"

132 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
All this, however, was little more than apparent
progress. It was like the advance of an ocean-
wave, — which, let it swell and curl and foam as
largely, grandly, and beautifully as it may, must
nevertheless break as soon as it touches the coast,
sink into the undercurrent, and retire from the
scene. The Greek Church holds to the Divine
authority of tradition : and tradition now, as ever,
makes the word of God of none effect. Church
men and statesmen unite in the preference of tra
ditional institutions, notwithstanding their accu
mulations of falsehood and injustice, to the true
and equal requirements of the Scriptures ; because
their personal and party interests are identified
with such conservatism. Of course, as soon as the
Bible wave struck upon the strand of tradition, it
was turned, back. In 1826, another Imperial ukase
suspended the Russian Bible Society; nor has any
resumption of it, I believe, ever been allowed.
A Protestant Bible Society, with comparatively
limited range and resources, was soon substituted,
and is still in action; but nothing more is suf
fered. The Greek Church, with its fifty millions
of members, stands aloof; nor is a single one of
these members, from the prince to the peasant, at
liberty to leave it for another. Referring to this
change of policy, the Archbishop of Upsal, in

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 133
Sweden, remarks, in his "Beview of the Church of
Christ," that the interest in the Bible Society
"was, no doubt, not very warm, as this Church
makes less account of the word of God than of ex
ternal ceremonies. The will of the Emperor was
almost passively obeyed, as well at the institution
as at the abolition of the Bible Society." In like
manner, in 1836, the Patriarch of Constantinople
" published an interdict against all Protestant edi
tions of the Bible, and translations of it into
modern Greek, the Turkish, Arabic, Bulgaric, Sla
vonic, and other languages." In 1837, he "forbade
the reading of the Bible or other writings pub
lished by the Bible Society in London," on pain
of " excommunication and other punishments."
Indeed, a commission seized "all books of this
'description" found in the city, and burned them
"in the palace of the patriarch." That the same
spirit still prevails is evident from the recent
prosecution and imprisonment of Dr. King, at
Athens, for preaching in his own house, and
under the protection of the American flag, to a
few people, in a way supposed to conflict with the
" holy canons and the traditions of the Eastern
Church." In a word, the Greek Church mani
festly prefers tradition to the Bible; is afraid the
Bible will overthrow tradition, and summons the

134 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
State to its aid, in guarding its interests, at every
point, against the Bible. With all its docu
mentary concessions to the Scriptures, it execu
tively withholds them from the masses of its
people, and so perpetuates ignorance and slavery
together. The Roman Church, unlike the Greek, neither
enjoins the duty, or concedes the right, of read
ing the Bible. It teaches that the indiscriminate
use of it is productive of more evil than good.
The Council of Trent did, indeed, authorize
bishops and inquisitors, under certain circum
stances, to give written permission to read trans
lations of it by Catholic authors; but even this, it
must be remembered, when given, is not a per
mission to understand the Bible, but, strictly and
only, to read it. No Roman bishop or inquisitor
on earth is authorized to permit a member of the
Church to understand the Bible for himself.
In the language of the amiable Charles But
ler in his "Horce Biblicee," "Every Roman Ca
tholic receives the Scripture from the Church,
under her authority, and with her interpreta
tion." The standard Roman Bible is the ancient Latin
Vulgate, — including the Apocrypha. This is a
remarkable fact. It is remarkable that the

. ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 135
Apocrypha should be included in the Sacred
Canon, contrary to the testimony of the Jews
and the primitive Christians, not forgetting St.
Jerome himself. But the title of the standard,
in contrast with the practice of the Church, is
still more remarkable. The Vulgate, — i. e. the
Bible in the vulgar, or common tongue; for
vulgar, or common, use. Originally, the Vul
gate was a Vulgate, — a version from the Hebrew
and Greek into the common language of Rome;
and that, too, at a time when the reading and
interpretation of the Scriptures were among the
most familiar exercises of the people. But now,
though this Vulgate is no longer a Vulgate, it is
still called the Vulgate, and is the standard of the .
Church which is so much opposed to all real Vul
gates. True, it would have been impossible to
select a standard which was not once a Vulgate ;
for all the inspired books were originally Vul
gates, and intended to be multiplied and per
petuated as Vulgates, among all nations, to the
end of the world. But the peculiarity of the
Roman Church is, that it supersedes the Hebrew
and Greek originals by the dead Latin Vulgate,
and then fulminates wrath against the free use of
Italian, German, French, Spanish, English, and
all other living Vulgates. Doubtless, the hie-

136 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
rarchy wishes that these were as dead as the
Latin. Under such circumstances, it was a matter of
great surprise and great pleasure to the British
and Foreign Bible Society to find its early move
ments, in many instances, most heartily responded
to by Roman Catholics. In answer to the in
quiry, "Whether the Bible was still prohibited
to the Catholics?" a Suabian priest declared,
"Properly speaking, the Bible has never been
prohibited to the Catholics." This priest ap
peared to be delighted with the new institution,
and promised " some attempts" toward " the
formation of a similar Bible Society among the
Roman Catholics." At Ratisbon, such a Society
was formed, under the care of the " Director of
the Ecclesiastical Seminary in that place." By
this Society the New Testament was "largely and
most acceptably distributed in Austria, Bavaria,
and Switzerland : many Catholic clergymen pub
licly recommended the perusal of them from their
pulpits;" and one of them declared, "The Bible
is now read by students, by the people, and even
by children." A Bavarian priest addressed the
British Society in these terms : — " United to
Christ, we are united to each other: neither con
tinents nor seas, neither various forms of govern-

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 137
ment, nor different outward confessions of re
ligion, can separate us: all these things pass
away, but love abideth." The Catholic Pro
fessor of Divinity in the University of Marburg
" described the solicitude of the people to obtain
the Scriptures as exceeding not only his means
of supplying them, but almost any conception
which the most sanguine mind could ever have
entertained." " The prejudices of our clergy
men," said he, "against laymen's reading the
Bible are gradually disappearing: many begin
even to promote its dissemination." Similar en
couraging intelligence was received from Ire
land, France, Sicily, Malta, and other points in
Europe ; from Madras, and the coast of Malabar,
in the East, and from North and South America.
Several bishops, a vicar-general, a director of an
ecclesiastical seminary, professors, priests, and
people, united in these demonstrations. True,
there was no Roman Catholic monarch to imitate
the Emperor Alexander in the foundation of a
National Bible Society; nor did the Pope of
Rome follow the example of his brother of Con
stantinople, in commending the object of the
London Institution and allowing the sale and dis
tribution of its publications. But, nevertheless, the
indications were far more favorable than had been

138 the bible opposed:
anticipated, — sufficient to suggest, if not to justify,
the thought that even Rome itself might, at last,
somewhat abate its hostility to the word of God.
Vain hope ! Rome is fast bound, fast as fate, by
its own infallibility. It cannot change. It must
either triumph or be destroyed, — triumph over
the Bible, or be destroyed by the Bible. There
fore it3 speedy and violent uprising against the
Bible Society. " We have been truly shocked"
— said Pius Vii. in a Papal brief issued in 1816 —
" we have been truly shocked at this most crafty
device, by which the very foundations of religion are
undermined." See that ! How much better the
Pope understood the matter than the innocent
and charitable subordinates to whom I have re
ferred ! He saw, and rightly enough too, the
Vatican, St. Peter's, all Rome, ready to be fired
and consumed, and felt the preliminary tremor
of the seven hills. " We again and again exhort
you" — he continued — "that, whatever you can
achieve by power, provide for by counsel, or
effect by authority, you will daily execute with
the utmost earnestness." Nor was this enough.
Hear the appeal of Leo XII., in 1824, to all "the
Roman Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and
Bishops :" — "You are aware, Venerable Brethren,
that a certain Society, commonly called the Bible

ecclesiastical opposition. 139
Society, strolls with effrontery throughout the
world ; which Society, contemning the traditions of
the holy fathers, and contrary to the well-known de
cree of the Council of Trent, labors with all its might,
and by every means, to translate — or rather to per
vert — the Holy Bible, into the vulgar languages of
every nation; from which proceeding it is greatly to
be feared, that what is ascertained to have happened
as to some passages may occur with regard to
others ; to wit, " that, by a perverse interpreta
tion, the gospel of Christ be turned into a human
gospel, or, what is still worse, into the gospel of
the devil." See ! there it is again ! — the old oppo
sition of tradition to the Bible ! Alas ! that very
tradition, which the Pope was so anxious to save,
— that is the "human gospel," that is the "gos
pel of the devil ;" and the great relief is that the
Bible has come forth to save mankind from it.
But — the Pope concludes — "Again, therefore, we
exhort you, that your courage fail not. The
power of temporal princes will, we trust in the
Lord, come to your assistance, whose interest, as
reason and experience show, is concerned when the
authority of the Church is questioned," &c. "A
very intelligible intimation," adds Mr. Mendham,
from whose work on the "Literary Bolicy of the
Church cf Borne" I have copied these Papal sen-
is

140 THE BIBLE OPPOSED f
fences, "and, in favorable times, well fitted to
produce a crusade."
So much for the Roman Church ; and, to show
its controlling influence over the temporal princes
to whom it appeals for aid, it may be added that
there is not a Papal state in the world from which
the Bible Society is not utterly excluded, or with
in which its progress is not met at every step by
the sternest hostility. At least, I know not of a
single exception. I find the Society rejoicing,
indeed, in some of its latest reports, in certain
successes in Belgium and France ; but even these
have been hardly won. In Italy, it is acknow
ledged that " stern despotism restrains the free
dom of opinion :" in Austria and Hungary, "dif
ficulties are in the way:" "Spain and Portugal,"
it is said, " are still, for the most part, closed
against the general dissemination of the Scrip
tures:" and so in other cases. The recent perse
cution of the Madiai, by the Grand Duke of Tus
cany, illustrates the spirit of Romanism every
where, — an instance in which the intercessions of
all Protestant Christendom could scarcely procure
the liberation of two humble Bible-readers, hus
band and wife, from separate, interdistant, pro
tracted, and almost fatal, imprisonment. Doubt
less, if the hierarchy had the power, every faithful

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 141
Bible-reader on earth would be shut up in a prison
from which there should be no release, — except by
death. I say this, because, as already stated, it
is a death-struggle. Rome, or the Bible, must
perish. But now let us turn to the Protestant
Churches. These profess to reject the authority
of tradition, and unite in asserting the Bible as
the only rule of faith and practice. Of course,
they both theoretically and practically concede
the right, and enjoin the duty, of reading the
Scriptures. Indeed, the principles which origin
ated and justify their existence imperatively de
mand that the whole world shall be filled with
Bibles and Bible readers.
The Hebrew and Greek originals form the
standard Protestant Bible, — excluding the Apo
crypha. These originals, and all versions of
them, ancient and modern, authorized and un
authorized, correct and incorrect, are held to be
of right open to all who can read them, — the
responsibility of treating them properly resting
upon those who receive them, and who must
account to God for the use they make of them.
When the British and Foreign Bible Society
commenced its operations, Protestants generally
hailed it with gratitude, joy, and hope. To give

142 the bible opposed:
the facts which illustrate this statement would re
quire a large volume. Suffice it to say that in
about ten years the London Institution was sur
rounded by more than five hundred auxiliary
associations, in Great Britain, Ireland, and the
adjacent islands ; fifty other Societies, with various
auxiliaries, had been established in different coun
tries on the European continent, five in Asia, two
in Africa, two in the West Indies, and one hun
dred and twenty-nine on the American continent.
Some $500,000 had been expended ; and nearly
1,500,000 Bibles and Testaments issued, in sixty-
three languages and dialects. Sixteen years later,
— that is, in 1833, — the interest in this great work
had increased to such a degree that it was seri
ously proposed to the Bible Societies of this and
other countries, by one of our Presbyterian
clergymen, " to attempt to supply, within twenty
years, the entire reading-population of the world
with the Holy Scriptures." Although the pro
position was warmly encouraged, more than
twenty years have elapsed, and the world is yet
far from being thoroughly supplied. Never
theless, as was noticed in a preceding discourse,
the printed versions now number two hundred
and seventy ; and the Bibles and Testaments is
sued amount to more than 54,000,000. So far,

ecclesiastical opposition. M3
at least, Protestantism has sustained its pro
fessions ; to say nothing of all it has accomplished
in illustration, publication, and circulation of the
Bible through a thousand other agencies.
But here, also, certain great drawbacks appear,
which cannot be conscientiously disregarded.
The Greek and Roman Churches are not the only
ones that oppose the Bible. It is a sad truth,
patent before heaven and earth, that the Pro
testant Churches also, to a great extent, are incon
sistently involved in the same censure.
Protestantism is remarkable for its sectarian
ism. The Bible opposes sectarianism, and secta
rianism, therefore, opposes the Bible. The Bible,
however, acts in God's name ; but sectarianism
reacts in despite of God's name. That is, so far
as this opposition goes, Protestant sectarianism,
just like Grecianism and Romanism, prefers its
own inventions, with their accompanying digni
ties, powers, and emoluments, to the supreme
claims of truth and charity; and so, like its
antique rivals, though not so grossly or gro
tesquely as they, " makes the commandments of
God of none effect."
Protestant sectarianism is either Established,
Dissenting, or Independent. Cranmerian Episco-
palianism is established by the State in England
13*

144 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
and Ireland; Calvinian Presbyterianism in Scot
land, Holland, and Switzerland; and Lutheran-
ism, whether Episcopal or Presbyterial, in Prussia
and throughout Northern Germany generally, in
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. In England
and Leland, dissenting sects are numerous ; so in
Scotland, and so in Holland ; but in Switzerland,
and in several of the Lutheran States, dissent is
scarcely tolerated. In Sweden, a native quitting
the National Church for another becomes liable
to imprisonment or exile. Where no Establish
ment exists, there, of course, are no Dissenters.
Thus, in our own country, notwithstanding the
frequent abuse of the term, we have, and can
have, no Dissenters. Here all sects are alike
independent. Now, what I affirm is this : that nearly all Pro
testant sects, whether Established, Dissenting, or
Independent, are involved, to some extent, in the
censure chiefly applied to the Greek and Roman
Churches: that is, they are constitutionally and
practically opposed to the use of the Bible alone.
The Greek Church will admit the Bible, with tra
dition. So will the Church of Rome. The sin of
both churches is, that they prefer tradition to the
Bible, and are afraid the Bible will destroy tra
dition. So, in their lesser measure, it is with

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 145
most of the Protestant Churches. They have
traditions, — authoritative traditions, — traditional
creeds, governments, ordinances, and interests;
and they prefer these traditions to the Bible.
They accept the Bible with the traditions, but
refuse the Bible without the traditions. True,
this is a great inconsistency; but, nevertheless, it
is a fact, as already stated, patent before heaven
and earth. If I be referred to the distribution of
the Bible, by means of the Bible Society, as con
flicting with this statement; I answer, that is just
exactly the difference between the Bible Society
and the sects : the Bible Society sends the Bible
alone, without note or comment, into all the
world, while the sects invariably send their tra
ditions with the Bible. If it be further objected,
that nearly all these sects encourage and assist the
Bible Society; I answer, that is because Pro
testantism, unlike Romanism, holds that the Bible
alone will do more good than evil, even among
the masses outside of the sects ; and, besides this,
that it is the best weapon, by itself, that can possi
bly be employed for the overthrow of Romanism,
and all other anti-Protestant systems: but let
any of the Bible converts, outside of the sects,
come to the sects for admission to membership
and the advantages of Christian communion, and

146 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
instantly it appears that, not the Bible alone, but
the Bible and tradition together guard the gate
ways, and, moreover, that when the Bible is satis
fied, tradition still insists on terms which the
Bible does not warrant, and from the imposition
of which it sadly retires, waiting in patience for
God's own time of its proper and exclusive
supremacy. This Protestant opposition to the Bible is im
pressively evident in the history of the Esta
blished sects; and more particularly in the con
duct of the Church of England toward the
British and Foreign Bible Society. Indeed, it
might be remarked here, that the very existence
of an Establishment, either with or without the
toleration of Dissenters, is an organic and con
tinuous opposition to the Bible. It is the intru
sion of human authority into the house of God ;
dividing His family; cherishing and enriching
one part, and dispossessing and disinheriting
another. It excites pride, vanity, and all cor
ruption, on one side, and envy, hatred, and bitter
denunciation, on the other. Not the Bible, but
the Church, becomes the primary interest; and
the circulation of the Bible by itself must be
hindered, for fear of endangering the Church.
For instance, to return to the case specified,

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 147
there are two institutions, older than the Bible
Society, connected with the Church of England,
and controlled, exclusively, by its members.
One is "The Society for Promoting Christian Know
ledge;" the other, " The Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." Now, is it possi
ble to imagine any thing more incongruous than
that two Societies, with such titles as these,
should be arrayed against the Bible Society?
Vet they have been, and especially the former,
ever since the Bible Society was organized !
They are the mediums through which the hos
tility of the higher powers of the Establishment
is, in part, manifested. But why is this ? Is not
the end of all these institutions the same ? Does
not the Bible Society promote Christian know
ledge ? Does not the Bible Society propagate the
gospel in foreign parts? Certainly, and in the
purest form. And yet, their end is not the
same. The Bible Society is a great Protestant
Institution, — nay, a great Christian Institution, —
above all sects. But the others are sectarian So
cieties, — Societies that prefer sectarianism, within
the Establishment, to Christianity throughout the
world. See! the old Societies distribute the
Bible and Prayer-Book together; the new So
ciety circulates the Bible alone. The old So-

148 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
eieties send out the Bible, accompanied by the
Creed, Liturgy, and Government to guard it; the
new Society issues the Bible, without note or
comment, trusting its defence to the God who
gave it. The old Societies seek to subject men
to human authority ; the new Society urges only
Divine authority. The old Societies would make
men sectarians; the new Society strives to
make them Protestant and Evangelical Chris
tians. Surely, here are reasons enough for op
position : and it is almost incredible to what an
extent, especially in the beginning, this opposi
tion was carried. " Supply these men with
Bibles," said one, alluding to Dissenters, "and
you supply them with arms against yourself."
" Some of these books," said another, " are ex
clusively fit for the meditation of the learned."
" Out of sixty-six books which form the contents
of the Old and New Testaments, not above seven
in the Old, nor above eleven in the New, appear
to be calculated for the study or comprehension
of the unlearned." The most distinguished com
batant against the new cause insisted upon the
danger "to the Established Church from the
practice of neglecting to give the Prayer-Book
with the Bible." Even Romanists congratulated
their Anglican brethren on the adoption of tht

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 149
Roman principle, "that true religion cannot be
found by the Bible alone," and on their con
sequent opposition to the distribution of the
Bible alone. This early and strange warfare, I
regret to add, is perpetuated to this day ; though
it should not be forgotten that the Evangelical
party is free from this High-Church reproach.
In regard to the Dissenting sects of Protestants
in Europe, I am not aware that any one of them
has ever exhibited this kind of hostility. Their
general, if not universal, co-operation in the Bible
cause is the great relief in the case, and one of
the chief excitants of the hope of a better future.
The only opposition to the Bible here charged
upon them is, their maintenance of the principle of
false authority, by which, to a great extent, the
Bible is nullified. That is, the Bible plainly and
positively requires Christian union, universal
Christian union, the oneness of Christ's minis
try and people throughout the world. The Greeks
have broken this union by their traditions. Ro
manists have broken it by their traditions. Pro
testant State establishments have broken it by
their traditions. And Dissenters multiply the
fractures and the fragments by their traditions.
The principle, in all parties, is precisely the same.
The only difference is in its practical applications.

150 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
It is false authority added to, or substituting, true
authority. It is the authority of man embar
rassing or annulling the authority of God.
So it is with the Independent sects of our own
country. Though the Greek Church has no ex
istence here, though the Roman Church is merely
represented by a small minority, and that exposed
to the full blaze of the open Bible, and though
there is no domineering Protestant Establishment
to overshadow our States and give just occasion to
dissent, still, free and equal and enlightened as we
are, old prejudices continue to haunt us with such
an awe and majesty to whatever is superstitious
within us, that even we too bow down to false au
thority ; even we too consent that tradition shall
supersede the illustrious symbol which God him
self has magnified, not only above all our names,
but even above all His own name ; above all the
radiant and reflected splendors of all the circling
spheres in immensity, and all the living glories
that veil their faces at His throne, or gild the out
line of His empire with the golden beauty of their
love-commissioned and untiring flight.
The results of this general Protestant deflection
from the right course are sadly evident. For
instance, sects have, multiplied beyond all former ex
ample. In the Greek, Roman, and Parliamentary

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 151
Churches, tradition may be said to have changed
its office. It no longer divides, but compacts.
Not so among dissenting and independent Pro
testants. If old traditions displease them they
are at liberty to make new ones. Instead of
casting away the whole system, they have used
this liberty. Now, therefore, instead of con
stituting, as they ought, one great Bible com
munion, their separate denominations outnumber,
I presume, all Protestant State Establishments,
and all organic Greek and Roman diversities, put
together. I am aware that the attempt is often made to
form a parallel of Roman and Protestant divisions.
Vain effort! Roman divisions are all subject to a
supreme Union. The Pope employs them as he
pleases. It is not so with Protestants. They
have no controlling centre. They acknowledge,
indeed, the Bible; but, in regard to Christian
union, they do not obey it. The Bible is not a
pope. It is not a living agent, with power to
enforce its decrees. It claims rational, voluntary,
and happy obedience. So far, Protestants are not
fully prepared for this. They are approaching it,
but have not reached it. For the present, there
fore, unlike Rome, they are disunited.
But, some may ask, should all true Christians
14

152 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
be fused into one great ecclesiastical amalgam?
Not at all ! That is the effort of the Greek Church,
— of the Roman Church, — of the Parliamentary
Churches, — of all Churches with visible and con
trolling centralizations. I understand it, as "the
mind of Christ," that there shall be no visible
and controlling centre but the Bible; no pope,
either man or council ; no pope, at Constantino
ple, Rome, or London ; no pope, in any province
or district, however small; no pope, over any
circle of congregations, or in any particular con
gregation. " Call no man your father upon the
earth ; for one is your Father, which is in heaven."
Christian union is the opposite of all popery, from
the lowest to the highest. Christian union is the
union of Christians, — union on the basis of the
Bible alone, and for the promotion of the pur
poses of the Bible alone. It may be beautifully
exemplified by a single congregation. It may be
grandly extended, so as to convene, for sympa
thetic but unauthoritative co-operation, the repre
sentatives of all the congregations of a city, a
state, a nation, or the world. Wherever it pre
vails, it is voluntary, cordial, and free.
But, others may ask, What should be done
with the traditions ? — the creeds, canons, liturgies,
forms of worship, forms of administering the ordi-

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 153
nances, forms of government, &c. &c. ? I believe
the Christian answer to be, substantially, this: —
Deprive them of their authority — their false,
divisive, Bible-supplanting authority — and you
may do almost any thing you please with them.
Without authority, they would sink into their
proper relations. They would constitute a curious
class of ecclesiastical literature, and might be
used or not used, modified or even multiplied,
preserved or destroyed, at pleasure.* What is
* The author thinks it no inconsistency to acknowledge here a
special attachment to what is commonly called The Apostles' Creed.
It is not speculative, not metaphysical, not philosophical, not in
any way scholastically presumptuous or vain, but simply, briefly,
beautifully, solemnly, scripturally, and satisfactorily narrative and
doctrinal. He loves to recite it in fellowship with living Christians
and the remembered ages. Moreover, he has sometimes imagined
that there is an important prophetic recognition of it in the Apoca
lypse in connection with the latter-day glory of the Church. He
is not in the habit, however, of yielding to imagination where
truth and right are in question. Especially, he would make no
concession to false authority in any relation. He would not suffer
the Apostles' Creed or any other to be imposed upon him.
It may not be idle to add, that the Swedish Church reads, in
one clause, not the holy Catholic Church, but one holy Christian
Church. See the "Review of the Church of Christ," page 143, by
the late Archbishop of Upsal.
Similar qualified acknowledgments might be made in respect of
the beatoty and dignity of many ecclesiastical formularies, but, as
instruments of division, they are mournful inventions.

154 THE BIBLE OPPOSED :
here insisted upon is this: — That it is a sub
version of the authority of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ — and that in relation to a point in
which he most pathetically manifested a special
interest — to allow these traditions to break up
the unity of his ministry and people ; and there
fore, let what will become of the traditions them
selves, that they ought to be, must and will be,
divested of the power to perpetuate and multiply
schisms. But not only have sects multiplied beyond all
former example, in consequence of this Protestant
preference of tradition to the Bible. Other evil
results are obvious ; two of which may be briefly
stated. For instance, sectarianism has disabled and
endangered the whole cause of Protestant and evan
gelical Christianity, within the limits of Christendom
itself What insulting and menacing attitudes are
assumed, in opposition to the religion of the
Bible, by Romanism and its allies, on the one
hand, and by infidelity, socialism, fanaticism,
sensualism, and all manner of charlatanism, on
the other ! Would this state of things continue,
if the professed friends of the Bible were all
united on the basis of the Bible alone, and all
devoted to the promotion of the purposes of the
Bible alone? Nay, verily, on every hand, these

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 155
haughty antagonists would cower in the glance
of truth, and shrink from the sword of the Spirit.
The Lord would consume them by the breath of his
mouth, and destroy them by the brightness of his com
ing. This gracious result is now kept in abeyance
by the idolatry of tradition. The Lord will never
give his glory to idols. When Bible Christians
become willing to trust the Bible alone, then, and
not till then, we shall cease to hear so many
lamentations from abroad, and Romanist prelates
at home will forbear to lecture on "The Decline
of Protestantism."
In like manner, as the other evil result alluded
to, sectarianism has perplexed and hindered the pro
gress of Protestant and evangelical Christianity beyond
ihe limits of Christendom. It exhausts nearly all its
ministerial and pecuniary resources in maintain
ing its own interests within its own limits ; and
the little that it spares for the conversion of the
world is expended in diffusing among the heathen
the same diversities which we so much deplore
among ourselves. My brethren, I may mistake
error for truth in these connections ; but, whether
I mistake or not, I must be honest to my convic
tions. They have not resulted from narrow and
hasty researches. I must say, therefore, that, in
my judgment, the world will never be converted
u*

156 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
in this way ! Never ! Still, I would not withhold
my hand from helping. According to my ability
and opportunity, I would aid every sect and
society on earth sincerely and earnestly engaged
in the great work. But I verily believe that the
Bible Society deserves more aid than all the tra
ditional institutions put together. And, if there
were a Missionary Society corresponding with it,
sending forth true ministers of Christ to use the
Bible alone, without note or comment, as their
only rule of faith and practice, the only authority
to be urged upon mankind, the only sensible, in
fallible, and divine authority on earth, — the one
which God himself has magnified above all his
name, and which therefore we are bound to
magnify infinitely above all our poor, little, in
significant names, — then I at least would be con
tent that the Bible Society and this Missionary
Society should share the wealth, and the worth,
and the prayers of the world between them.
Twenty years! Why was not the whole world
supplied with Bibles during the twenty years?
Because sectarianism hindered. And why may
not the whole world be supplied within the next
twenty years ? Because sectarianism still hinders.
Let Christianity supersede sectarianism, and there
will be a shower of the stars of inspiration all

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 157
over the globe equal to the fall of the meteors in
1833, and every one of them shall touch the laud-
scape, and abide, and burn, and blaze, until all
the dark places of the earth shall shine like the
streets and glitter like the palaces of the New
Jerusalem. But, as things now are, we can only
say, the cause is perplexed and hindered ; and we
must wait in patience and hope for better times.
Oh, if the Greek Church would give up tradi
tion for the Bible, — if the Roman Church would
give up tradition for the Bible, — if the Protestant
State Churches would give up tradition for the
Bible, — how the whole world might rejoice ! Not
against the persons of patriarchs, popes, or metro
politans, archbishops, bishops, or priests, or of
any of the emperors, kings, princes, nobles, and
magistrates connected with them,— much less of
the oppressed people subject to them,— can there
be any humane or Christian objection. Nothing
is objectionable among them but the traditions
that oppose the Bible, and, by so doing, corrupt
the high, desolate the low, and retard the king
dom of God. Away with tradition, and the Bible
brotherhood will fill the earth.
But, if those old parties are too rigid to be
reformed, at any rate, let the Dissenting Pro-

158 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
testants of Europe and the Independent Protest
ants of America give up their traditions for
the Bible. Or, if even this be too much to
ask at present, — if our transatlantic brethren are
yet too much enthralled for such a movement, —
still, at least, let the free Christians of our own
glorious land unite in setting the high and holy
example. Oh, if this alone could be accom
plished, we might be content to ask no more.
If this alone could be accomplished, all else
that is desirable would surely and speedily suc
ceed. And may not our countrymen be per
suaded to this desistance ? Why persist in op
posing the Bible? Were these "new heavens"
and this "new earth" intended to be ruled by
tradition, or by the Bible? Were they intended
for the heritage of sectarians, or of Christians?
— of a thousand parties in conflict they know
not why, or of one peaceful and enterprising
fraternity, enlightening and renovating the world?
What drove our fathers hither? Was it not tra
dition ? What brought them hither ? Was it not
the Bible ? To what are their errors chargeable,
and the errors of their descendants ? Is it not
tradition? And to what are their virtues to be
ascribed, and the virtues of their descendants ?
Is it not the Bible? Surely, of all lands, this

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 159
ought to be, pre-eminently, the land of the
Bible. And yet we have more traditions, and
more sects, in this country, than can be found
in any other! We have imported the old ones
from nearly aU nations, and have manufactured,
and are still manufacturing, many new ones. True,
it is not to be wondered at that old ones should
come from abroad; but it is a reproach to our
intelligence and moral sense, a dishonor to our
liberty and dignity, to fabricate new ones here.
We ought to be prepared to welcome all immi
grants to the religion of the Bible alone, and to
make them instantly one with us in freedom from
all traditions. It is our glory that we are free ;
but, we should use our liberty as not abusing it.
We are just as much at liberty to lay aside false
authority as we are to cherish it ; and we ought
to lay it aside. We are just as much at liberty
to reject tradition as we are to retain it; and we
ought to reject it. We are just as much at liberty
to choose the Bible alone as our bond of union,
and instrument of government, as we are to
connect any other bond or instrument with it;
and we ought to choose the Bible alone.
I rejoice that a good work, of this kind, is
already in progress in our country. Indeed, the
supremacy 'of the Bible is the doctrine, though

160 THE BIBLE OPPOSED :
not the practice, of all the Protestants among us,
— that is, of the greater mass of our population.
Some of them, it is true, fall far short of the
practical requirements of this doctrine. Others
come nearer, but still fail to fulfil them. A few
sects come very near, — failing, perhaps, only in
one point; as where, for instance, immersion ia
made a term of membership. One of these
parties professes to adopt the principles of the
Bible and private judgment fully, boasts of
them, and opposes sectarianism on the ground
of them, — without apparently being aware that
it is itself involved in the same evil, through the
suppression of private judgment by Church
authority in that imposition of immersion. It
is marvellous how tenacious and exclusive this
particular tradition is ! If it were not for this,
I suppose all the immersionists in the world
would immediately take their stand on the
ground of the Bible alone. As it is, in addition
to the maintenance of close-communion Churches,
— they are now actually engaged, in part at least,
in the promotion of a sort of close-communion
Bible-Society, — so threatening some serious con
fusion, both at home and abroad, even in this
most catholic department of Christian enterprise.
But, besides all the parties so nearly on the

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 161
right platform, and which might so easily step
upon it, there are quite a number of Churches
in our country — and they are likely to multiply
hereafter with much greater rapidity than they
have done heretofore — which do, literally and
strictly, humbly but boldly, quietly but success
fully, reject the false authority of tradition in
whole, and are governed entirely by the true
authority of the Bible alone. This is one of
them. True, it has been recently divided; but
it was not the Bible that occasioned the division.
It was tradition. The Bible, on the contrary,
saved it; and now nothing is necessary to its
continued and enlarged prosperity but honest
and earnest obedience to the Bible. The God
who gave the rock on which to build it and
gave the man by whom it was built, if it still
be kept free from idols, will, in time to come, as
He did in time past, hallow it as His own temple,
and cause its walls to glow with His glory, and
its roof to reverberate with His praise.*
These Bible Churches are at the true starting-
* The Church here alluded to is the independent "Associate
Reformed Presbyterian Church" of Baltimore, Md., — better known
in connection with the name of the late Rev. Dr. John M. Duncan,
a faithful pastor, whose cenotaph most aptly describes him as
" An eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures."

162 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
point. What an immensity of traditions the
Christian world generally must clear out of the
way in order to assume the same position ! Still,
this difficulty is not so great as it seems. Let
them drop, and they are gone. As it regards
new churches, there is no difficulty. Here are
God's book, God's preacher, and God's people.
Is any thing else wanting? Nothing under
heaven, but God's blessing. And will this be
withheld? Never, — if only His people and
preacher prove faithful to His book.
But, besides internal faithfulness, every Bible
Church is bound to take part, according to the
calls of Providence, in the salvation of the world.
Every Bible Church must remember that its posi
tion is only a starting-point, and so contemplate
progress. Other Bible Churches must be raised
up, to sympathize with each other and encou
rage each other, and in every way establish and
extend the work. And let me say, as the result
of no careless contemplation, that this time at
least appears to be the "accepted time," and this
country the accepted country, for the accomplish
ment of this purpose.
"Behold!" cries one, "the provision for a new
sect!" "God forbid!" is our instant and reve
rent reply. This objection, however, is so often

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 163
heard, and does so much harm, that I will state
the distinction which utterly destroys it. What
is a Christian sect ? It is a section of professed
Christians distinguished by holding the authority
of both the Bible and tradition. But what is a
Christian Church ? It is a congregation of Chris
tians distinguished by holding the authority of
the Bible alone, without tradition. Can any
distinction be more strongly marked? Surely
not. It is an impossibility, therefore, to form a
new sect by multiplying Bible Churches. If the
whole world were filled with Bible Churches,
the effect would be the annihilation of all the
sects in existence. Let no timid member of a
Bible Church, therefore, be alarmed by this stale
and worthless objection. It is a shame and a
grief that the wheels of the gospel chariot have
been delayed so long by such a pitiful clog.
In conclusion, I cannot but hope that a fairer
vision than ever yet has charmed the eyes of
men has been reserved, in the wisdom and good
ness of God, to illustrate our beloved Union!
Union ! That is the watchword ! Thank God
for its meaning, its music, and its power!
Union! — civil and religious! — the oneness of
humanity, and the oneness of Christianity! A
15

164 THE BIBLE OPPOSED '.
religion worthy of our liberty! — a religion that
may be as much a light to the Churches of the
world as our liberty is to the States of the world !
If Canadians, Mexicans, and South Americans,
if Irishmen, Englishmen, Welshmen, and Scotch
men, if Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians, if Por
tuguese, Spaniards, and Frenchmen, if Belgians,
Hollanders, and Germans, if Swiss, Italians,
Poles, Hungarians, Russians, and Greeks, if even
Turks, and Arabs, and Persians, and Hindoos,
and Siamese, and Chinese, and Australians, and
Polynesians, — if, in a word, all the varieties of
humanity — except the poor Africans, and even
some of them in some of our States — may he
here assembled, and made, to all intents and pur
poses, civilly one, — then, I ask, may not even
Greek Catholics, if they should come among us,
and Roman Catholics, here at least if nowhere
else, and Protestants from all the State Establish
ments, and Dissenting Protestants of all classes,
and our own Independent Protestants of all
parties, — in a word, may not all the varieties of
Christianity be made ecclesiastically one ? If all
the obstructions of distance, danger, poverty,
language, habit, manners, and social customs,
have been overcome in the civil union, may not
the single obstruction of tradition be overcome

ECCLESIASTICAL OPPOSITION. 165
for the accomplishment of the ecclesiastical
union, — a simple Christian union, — a Holy Bible
union ? Here we are, by the good providence of
God, one mighty brotherhood, gathered from all
nations. Here we are, with the grandest seas of
the globe tossing all their billows between our
happy shores and the haughty tyrannies of the
Old World. Here we are, as citizens, already
one. Why not also be one as Christians ? Have
we not already thrown off a thousand political
traditions ? And are we not equally at liberty to
throw off all sectarian traditions? Then let us
use our liberty. Away with the false authority
of all divisive traditions ! Away with this eccle
siastical opposition to the Bible ! The Bible be
longs to all ! The Bible is acknowledged by all !
Let the Bible be obeyed, and it will unite all ! If,
however, in this as in the former case, it shall
seem that there must be some exceptions, let us
pity and pray for them. But let all who can
come make haste to come. Let the union be
consummated ! The tidings of it will electrify
the world ! Popery, like Lucifer, having ascended
to the highest heaven in all the pride of the Son of
the Morning, shall suddenly drop into the deepest
depth of mockery and scorn ! Infidelity, like
Satan, having covered itself with a cloud and

166 THE BIBLE OPPOSED.
slowly exalted its front against the throne of God,
shall fall again like lightning to the marsh from
which it rose! Paganism, like Mania, worship
ping it knows not what, shall be startled by the
quickening voice of truth, and, clasping her brow
at the thrill of returning reason, shall stand before
the Highest, illumined, enraptured, and restored !
Judaism, weeping by the Temple-wall, shall hear
strange news from the land where her children
have never found cause to weep, and confess that
Jesus is indeed the Christ ! A second and more
sacred national flag shall attend the first in all its
flights from pole to pole, — a flag flashing with the
stars of prophets and apostles, and glowing with
the stripes of the Savior's painful but blessed
and beckoning atonement ; and the United States
of America, and the United Churches of America,
magnifying the Bible and the God of the Bible,
and magnified in turn by the benediction of
both, shall become and remain "the joy and the
praise of the whole earth."

SERMON YIII.

THE BIBLE OPPOSED.-II. CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION.

"Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxsviii. 2.
In the preceding discourse we entered upon
the subject of Opposition to the Bible, — con
fining our attention then to the one form of
Ecclesiastical Opposition. On the present occa
sion I design to notice two of the three remain
ing forms of it, — the Civil and Social. It is not
necessary, in either of these connections, to be
very elaborate. A brief statement will suffice for
each ; and so, without inconvenience, we may
pass through all.
Civil opposition to the Bible, as previously
represented, is generally, if not always, occasioned
by ecclesiastical opposition. The priest deceives
15* 167

168 THE BIBLE OPP-OfiED!
the king, and the State becomes the dupe of
the Church. " The Church is in danger !" is the
cry of the crafty prelate ; " and, if the Church
fall, the State will fall. Let the State, therefore,
if only to save itself, hasten to the rescue of the
Church." This is the substance of the significant
sentence already cited from the Encyclical Letter
of Leo XII. : — " The power of temporal princes
will, we trust in the Lord, come to your assistance,
whose interest, as reason and experience show, is
concerned when the authority of the Church is
questioned," &c.
Now, there is a certain sense in which this
statement is true. Reason and experience do
show that the interest of princes who are like the
prelates, of States which are like the Church, — i.e.
of civil usurpers and tyrants corresponding with
the ecclesiastical usurpers and tyrants, — "is con
cerned when the authority of the Church is
questioned." And just so it might be said, with
equal truth, that the interest of the Church is con
cerned, as reason and experience show, when the
authority of such Stales is questioned. The simple
fact is, both authorities are false authorities; and
it becomes them to sustain each other. The
people whom they have so long degraded and
oppressed are likely now to call them both into

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 169
judgment and doom them to perdition. In this
sense their interest is indeed one.
But, in regard to any justly-constituted and
justly-administered civil government, it is not true
that its interest is concerned when the authority
of the Church is questioned, — Le. the authority
of the Papal or any other ecclesiastical despotism.
Rather, it is the interest of such a government to
have the authority of the Church questioned, or
to question it for itself. It is its interest to dis
prove and put down this authority. Reason
shows this ; for the Papal theory is, that the State
is subject to the Church. Experience also shows
it ; for the Papal practice has been, according to
its ability and opportunity, to trample upon the
rights of the State. Moreover, it is a plain matter
of fact that Protestant States — the very States
wnich do question and reject the authority of the
Church — are at this moment the best-established
and most prosperous States in the world.
Even Protestant States, however, generally
speaking, are not so well established and prosper
ous as they might be if they held and acted
upon the true Church and State theory. See !
there are three of these theories : first, the Roman
Catholic theory, — that the State is subject to the
Church ; secondly, the Protestant National theory,

170' THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
— that the Church is subject to the State; and,
thirdly, the Bible theory, — that neither is the State
subject to the Church, nor the Church to the
State, Church and State being separate from each
other and independent of each other. The great
practical exemplification of this Christian theory
is found in our own happy and beloved country.
The condition of other countries — except in so far
as the influence of the Bible theory is now extend
ing among them and modifying their estate — may
be represented, in a summary way, as follows : —
1. The Voice of the State to the Church :— No
Church, no State !
2. The Voice of the Church to the State :—No
State, no Church !
3. The Voice of the King to the Bishop : — No
Bishop, no King !
4. The Voice of the Bishop to the King : — No
King, no Bishop !
5. The Voice of the King to the People : — No
Bishop, no Church!
6. The Voice of the Bishop to the People : —
No King, no State !
7. The Voice of the People to the King and
Bishop : — All hail, King and Bishop !
8. The Voice of the King and Bishop to the
People : — All hail, Subjects and Laics !

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 171
9. The Voice of the People again : — Long live
the King ! Long live the Bishop !
10. The Voice of King and Bishop again: —
Beceive our Boyal and Apostolic Benediction !
11. The Voice of the Bishop to the King : — All
right, your Majesty !
12. The Voice of the King to the Bishop: —
Venerable Father in God, All right !
And so the king and bishop return to their
palaces, and the people to their fields and facto
ries and mines, their stores and shops and ships.
Not so in our country. Here Church and
State are separate, and mutually independent.
Here the Bible alone is supreme. Here the
people, under the authority of the Bible, establish
free States and free Churches to suit themselves.
These States and Churches are not yet indeed
entirely conformed to the excellency of the Bible
models, and, therefore, need further changes and
improvements. The people, however, have no
reason to fear the Bible on this account, but
rather to honor and obey it; for, just as they suc
ceed in meeting the requirements of the Bible, so
will they progress toward the perfection of civil
and religious liberty. The Bible here, instead
of being an apparition of terror, is the angel
of all grace, — the divinely-magnified symbol

172 Tns bible opposed:
of all* greatness and goodness, all majesty and
power. Whatever civil opposition to the Bible is mani
fested in any country may, therefore, be regarded
as consequent on the unjust organization of the
State, or its oppressive administration, or its
unholy alliance with some form of ecclesiastical
apostasy, corruption, exclusion, and extortion. It
is not the interest of any State that ought to flourish
— any more than it is of any Church that ought to
flourish — to oppose the Bible. On the contrary,
the Bible embodies in itself all the interests of
mankind. As a matter of fact, civil opposition to the circu
lation of the Bible exists only in States under the
influence of the Roman and Greek Churches, — as
was shown on a previous occasion. Protestant
States are all open to this good work. In regard
to the application of the Bible, however, to both
State and Church affairs, there is some Protestant
obstruction, as might be expected. For instance,
in England, the friends of the voluntary system
urge the Bible theory of the separateness of Church
and State against the established union of Church
and State. On the other side, the friends of the
union resist the influence of this Bible theory
to the utmost. Some of them have even pro-

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 173
posed reunion with Rome, if necessary, in order
to guard against it. But it must be remembered,
in this and in all similar instances, that the con
troversy is a free one. So far it is worthy of
Protestantism. The State does not authorita
tively interfere with it to foreclose or suppress it.
It is going on, and will go on ; and, as soon as the
Bible theory shall obtain its proper hold on the
convictions and consciences of the people, it will
accomplish its recognition and acknowledgement
by the State.
So in our own country. The application of
the Higher Law — as the law of the Bible is
styled — to the correction of certain legislative and
social evils among us has been very strenuously
resisted in some quarters. But here, again, the
controversy is a free one ; and no person can
reasonably doubt its result in so far as the
authority of the Bible is concerned. Only let the
true meaning of the Bible, in this relation, be
fairly and fully made out ; only let the practical
requirements of the Bible be clearly and surely
demonstrated ; and the Bible must triumph. Let
the question be simply, The Bible, or Social
Customs? — The Bible, or State Laws? — The
Bible, or Congressional Laws? — The Bible, or
State Constitutions ? — The Bible, or the Consti-

174 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
tution of the United States ? — and it will soon be
seen, I am profoundly persuaded, that the Bible
is indeed the Higher Law, — higher than all cus
toms, statutes, and constitutions in our land, put
together ! It is not the authority of the Bible that is
questioned by the American people in general.
This is admitted as supreme, universal, and eternal.
The interpretation and application of it are the
grounds of disagreement. With us, not even the
voice of the people, but the voice of the Bible, is the
voice of God!
Social opposition to the Bible opens a wide field.
Its main points, however, may be indicated by a
few words in relation to each of them.
Social opposition — at least, generally speaking —
is not occasioned by ecclesiastical opposition. It is
independent of the Church. It is independent
of the State. In some instances, it abhors the
Church as much as it does the Bible, and abhors
the State as much as it does the Bible. Nay, in
some instances, it identifies the Bible with the
Church and the Church with the State, and
hates and opposes the Bible chiefly or only be
cause it supposes the Bible to be the support of
the Church and the State. This identification of
the Bible with apostate Churches and oppressive
States is the greatest mistake that social reformers

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 175
or revolutionists have ever made. In this mistake
is the secret and solution of many of their failures, —
indeed, of all their failures, when they have at
tempted any thing really good. It has turned
their forces aside from civil and ecclesiastical
tyranny — which, as a matter of human origin and
merely human resources, they might have over
come — to battle against the impenetrable bulwarks
and irresistible thunders of eternal Omnipotence.
I can easily imagine that the popular conspirators,
the indignant insurrectionists, of any country de
solated by regal and sacerdotal imposition and
misrule, should succeed in scattering princes
and prelates to the end of the earth, in pounding
to powder their ancient and illustrious altars and
thrones, in turning their palaces and temples into
hospitals and asylums, their parks and gardens
into paradises for the poor, — in a word, in
changing, at once and forever, any and every
thing, of man's making alone; but, when they
assail the Bible, I can no more expect them to be
successful than I could if they were to shake
their swords, and point their bayonets, and fire
their cannons, and fling their bombs, at the
seraphim of the tempest, or the higher, serene,
and untroubled beauty of the angel of the sun.
This social opposition is embodied in certain
16

176 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
schools or classes, certain confederative or inde
pendent, open or secret, institutions or fra
ternities, — various formal or informal groupings,
occasioned by special sympathetic affinities. It
involves speculative philosophy, natural science,
natural theology, Biblical criticism, popular litera
ture, business pursuits, benevolent associations,
semi-benevolent associations, public amusements,
fashionable religion, &c.
Speculative philosophy, to a great extent and
in various ways, opposes the Bible. Indeed, the
very notion of it and name of it, occurring in
the presence of the Bible, seem to intimate some
what of insult and hostility. True, there may be
speculation merely as additional to revelation, or
even in defence or support of revelation ; but the
history of speculative philosophy, within the limits
of Bible-distribution, is rather a history of oppo
sition. It is speculation against revelation ! It
generally presumes, in the beginning of its re
searches, to ignore the existence of the Bible, and
seldom recurs to it, except, perhaps, to exercise
a kind of condescending patronage, by showing
how wonderfully some "inspiration of the Al
mighty" coincides with the more infallible de
ductions, the transcendental ascertainments, of its
own theoretical or practical reason, or else to

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 177
sneer at it for the ineffable folly of some appre
hended ground of difference. It is difficult to
imagine any form of opposition so proud, so au
dacious, so offensive to Heaven, as this. It starts
from skepticism and returns to skepticism. The
Bible assumes the existence of God ; but specu
lative philosophy disdains such an assumption.
The Bible acknowledges, without dispute, the
existence and immortality of the human soul ; but
speculative philosophy scorns such an easy ac
knowledgment. The Bible concedes, without
thought of questioning it, the existence of the
earth, and of sun, moon, and stars, — or the whole
material universe ; but speculative philosophy is
not to be duped into any such concession. Nay,
verily, this philosophy must hold God, man, and
the universe all in doubt until it shall find time
and reason to determine whether to let them
exist or not. In some cases, by one of its faculties,
and for its own peerless honor, it deliberately
undertakes to annihilate the Deity, and then, by
another faculty, in pity for the unphilosophical
mass of mankind, it re-creates and re-enthrones
Him. In some cases, it decides that man has no
soul; in others, that he has no body; and in
others, that it makes no difference whether he has
either, or both, or neither, inasmuch as there is

178 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
no world for him to inhabit and no God for him
to love, serve, or adore. I know not how many
thousands of pages of this boasted but empty
wisdom I have taken pains to read, with the
closest attention, in hope of some ultimate good ;
but this I do know, — that a large part of it, as it
now exists, is utterly subversive of the claims of
the Bible as God's own magnified word.
Natural science also, though scarcely to so
great an extent, and certainly with much less
impudence and much more evidence, takes part
in this general opposition to the Bible. Natural
science is more worthy of respect than specu
lative philosophy. Philosophy is attractive to the
pride of the intellect. Its lofty abstractions, its
subtile discriminations, its comprehensive generali
zations, and its pretentious phraseology, promise
such sublimity and delicacy and masterly sweep
of thought, that a sharp and earnest spirit can
hardly resist the temptation to engage in its
culture. But science is more soberly inviting.
It appeals to one's love of fact and truth and
law. It challenges observation and reflection, and
prompts invention and discovery, by the sub
mission of material elements and powers, combina
tions, processes, and results, actual, obvious, pal
pable, apparently demonstrable and indisputable.

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 179
It gives a more practical character to the mind,
and, so, to the life. It is incomparably more
satisfactory, — especially in its present positive and
seemingly reliable developments.
I need not name its vast variety of subordinate
departments. The three great ranges of it, which
include all its interests, are anthropology, geo
logy, and astronomy, — or the science of man, of
the earth, and of the universe.
As it respects anthropology, I allude chiefly to
such results of it as are employed in sustaining
the notion of the mere materialism of our nature.
With the denial of a spirit in man, the doctrines
of immortality, responsibility, and retribution all
pass away. Sin has no existence; death, of
course, is not the consequence of sin ; our acci
dental physical organization is the whole of our
being, and this being acts by some inexplicable
and uncontrollable necessity, and expires utterly
with the dissolution of the organism itself. That
all this tends to make the Bible a fable is too
plain for remark.
As it regards geology, I allude to similar but
more numerous and various results. It is surprising
how many anti-Biblical statements may be collected
here. Let me sketch the consecutive errors : — No
God; no Father, Son, or Spirit;, no spirit of any
16*

180 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
kind; no creation; no providence; no sin; no fall;
no redemption; no miracle; no history; no prophecy;
no revelation ; no moral agency or purpose in
natural changes ; nothing of higher promise than
some supposed law of progress, by which, from the
rudest beginnings, all things have been brought
to their present condition, and in virtue of which
also they are all supposed to tend toward final
perfection in the far-off future. Even Christian
geologists, it appears to me, have been greatly
too much in haste to concede to their new and
favorite science unwarranted advantages over the
Bible. For instance, one of the most eminent of
these — a gentleman of learning, station, and in
fluence — abandons the time of creation as ordi
narily computed, and accepts millions of years or
ages for the existence of our planet, instead of
some five or six thousand years. In like manner
he abandons the notion of an aqueous chaos,
abandons the creation of sun and moon on the
fourth day of the week, abandons the notion that
the animals were all created at any one centre or
in pairs, abandons the notion that death is the
effect of sin, and abandons also the notion that
the Deluge was universal, — confining this catas
trophe, as he had previously restricted the Adamic
creation, to the vicinity of the Caspian Sea. Now,

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 181
it may be very properly admitted that the Biblical
text in all these connections is capable of mis
construction ; that it is possible it has been mis
construed; that the popular understanding of it
is perhaps a misunderstanding ; and that it may
be a part of the providential mission of science
to correct such errors and illustrate the true
meaning of the record. But the admission of
these possibilities is not a sufficient apology for
hasty concessions to the claims of the new science,
or hasty reversals of old interpretations of the
Scriptures. All haste is inappropriate here. The
Bible has waited thousands of years for correc
tion, and remains pretty much as it was at first :
while thousands of its supposed corrections have
become obsolete infatuations. Such, I have no
doubt, will be the fate of many of what are now
considered, by some, geological demonstrations —
demonstrations contrary to the commonly-received
understanding of the Bible.
As it regards astronomy, I allude to the same
class of results again. Indeed, anthropology,
geology, and astronomy, thus considered, are only
three forms of one great evil whose results are
identical. That is, they are all forms of mate
rialism ; and materialism, in its consummation, is
the exclusion of all spiritualism, and, of course,

182 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
of all moral government and of all immortal
retribution. Nothing but matter, on this theory,
exists; and therefore the assumptions of the
Bible, from its first chapter to its last, of a Spirit-
God, and spirit-angels, and spirit-saints, and a
spirit-world, sinless, deathless, and happy, — all
these assumptions are mere assumptions, without
any substantial realizations. No wonder, there
fore, that it should be said, by one of the princes
of astronomy, that, according to the progress of
discovery, the doctrine of final causes is pushed
farther and farther away, even to the boundaries
of knowledge ; for, if there be no first cause, and
that cause an intelligent spirit, there can, of
course, be no final cause, no design, no adapta
tion, in any thing. The universe, thus contem
plated, becomes an infinitude of chances, to which
the Bible has no application.
I am aware, indeed, that the whole range of
natural science has been greatly affected by the
progress of Christianity. In fact, science has be
come tributary to Christianity in no small degree,
and often supplies many beautiful and impressive
exemplifications of revealed truth. It may still
be affirmed, I presume, that the greatest names
in science are Christian names. "Even the
scientific speculations which are hostile to Scrip-

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 183
ture," in the language of a recent reviewer of the
last half-century, "are seldom presented as such."
But, after all such grateful acknowledgments, it
still remains a sad truth — at least, in my humble
judgment — that Christians, in many instances,
for the sake of securing an apparent harmony of
science and revelation, have made concessions to
science which are exceedingly injurious to the
Scriptures, and, by so doing, have encouraged
the covert hostility of the prudent class of infidels
just alluded to, and made still more violent the
open opposition of those who boast that science
is absolutely destructive of the Bible and of all
its spiritual powers and destinies.
Natural Theology it may seem strange to men
tion in connection with opposition to the Bible.
Still, there is reason for it on one account, — if not
more. Revealed religion, it may be said, rests
upon natural religion. For instance, the Bible
rightly assumes the existence of God; because
nature previously demonstrates the existence of
God. Now, I acknowledge the demonstration of
the divine existence by the natural world ; but it
seems to me that a book may demonstrate this as
well as a world, and that the Bible does demon
strate it, and therefore is not quite so dependent
on nature, even in this relation, as is generally

184 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
supposed. But, the chief point to which I here
refer is this : natural theologians have conceded
too much to natural instruction in relation to the
moral character of God. They have agreed that
nature illustrates the goodness of God as well as
His intelligence and power. They have allowed
infidels to descant, without check, on the moral
perfections of the Deity, as though they had really
collected the proofs of these perfections from
material contemplations. Now, all this seems to
me just so much in opposition to the Bible. Na
ture, in its present condition, is a revelation of
wrath. Every man is an eye-witness of this fact.
I do not mean, of course, that there is nothing
but wrath revealed. The relics of original good
ness are all around us ; but wrath has come down
upon the whole scene of peace and filled it with
desolation. All the evils in the world are forms
of wrath. The proper logical deduction from
this fact would be, were there no additional in
telligence to prevent it, that God Himself is a
Being of wrath. It would be impossible, under
such circumstances, to make out His moral per
fections. This I insist upon as the true Bible
view of the subject. "For we are consumed by
thine anger," says the Psalmist, "and by thy
wrath are we troubled." "All our days are passed

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 185
away in thy wrath : we spend our years as a tale
that is told." Therefore the Bible was given to
correct the current indications of nature ; to assure
mankind of the essential goodness of God, as it
was manifested, without any sign of wrath, before
sin entered the world, and is now manifested in
the world where there is no sin, and will here
after be manifested again in our own world when
sin shall be destroyed. Therefore nature and re
velation — wrath and mercy — are so strongly con
trasted in the Scriptures. "For the wrath of
God," says St. Paul, "is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men;" but, in regard to the gospel, he declares
that he is not ashamed of this, — "for it is the
power of God unto salvation;" i.e. the same power,
but manifested in mercy instead of wrath. In a
word, the natural attributes of the Deity, as their
title implies, are revealed by nature ; but His
moral attributes are not so revealed. It is not
upon sky or landscape that we read the inscrip
tion, " The Lord is good to all, and His tender
mercies are over all His works." It is not upon
the morning or the evening star, upon the moon,
or even upon the golden globe of the sun, that
we find the infinitely more glorious words, " God
is love !" No, no ! these are Bible disclosures, and

186 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
it is by such disclosures that God has magnified
His word above all His name. Deists, in my
judgment, have no right-to avail themselves of
these representations of the Deity in their opposi
tion to the Bible ; and Christians make a sad
mistake in encouraging them to do so by their
improper and undiscriminating concessions. If
Deists will reject the Bible, let them content
themselves with the God of Nature apart from
the corrections of the Bible. Their God is not
our God ! Their God is the God of wrath, the
Creator, and yet the Punisher, of a miserable
and helpless race of sinners, an almighty Tyrant
over endless fugitive generations of His own
sighing and dying offspring. Our God is the
God of mercy, — just, indeed, and therefore in
capable of clearing the guilty as though they
were not guilty, but, at the same time, as He
declared to Moses, and, through him, to Israel
and the world, He is " merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity,
and transgression, and sin."
Other points might be noticed in this connec
tion, showing that natural theologians, in their
zeal for a favorite system, have frequently placed
themselves in a false position in relation to the

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 187
Bible, and aided rather than checked the efforts
of its opponents. It is requisite, however, not
only to omit these, but to hasten, with still greater
brevity, through the topics yet in waiting.
Biblical Criticism it may seem still more strange
to introduce so formally in connection with oppo
sition to the Bible. I allude to it, of course,
merely as the instrument of degenerate and
apostate professors, previously corrupt in morals,
and therefore ultimately so degraded, impaired
and perverted in intellect. The principal historic
reference is to the neologists, rationalists, and
accommodationists of German)7, and their sym
pathizers and imitators in other countries. These
are the agents who have wrought most of the
disasters to Protestantism on the Continent of
Europe, and whose influence has been most
threatening, according to the extent of its diffu
sion, in Great Britain and in some sections of our
own land. Nothing contrary to reason is the ap
parently reasonable principle on which they pro
ceed ; forgetting, if I may so speak, that the reason
needs to be converted as much as any faculty of
our nature — needs to be renewed, to be enlightened,
and to be sanctified, that it may rightly fulfil its
office in the study, appreciation, and improvement
of revelation. Revelation is often above reason,
17

188 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
but never contrary to right reason. It invites
reason to soar into the empyrean, to contemplate
a wider scope than it ever thought of before, to
understand higher, holier, happier, mightier, and
more permanent relations than nature alone ever
presented. In all this, right reason may find a
divine harmony that will not only satisfy but charm
and delight it forever. The rationalist, however,
comes to the Bible in his natural condition, with
all his selfishness, sensuality, corruption, and con
sequent skepticism, and finds it, as might be ex
pected, full of repulsions. Miracles ! — no such
things ; miracles are impossible. Tricks may be
played ; natural events may be mistaken for mira
cles : but, as to real miracles, there never were and
never will be any. And yet, when the reason is
illumined, there is no necessity in the universe
more obvious and impressive than the necessity
for miracles. There can be no redemption without
miracles. The very notion of revelation implies
a miracle. Repeated revelations are repeated
miracles. A volume of revelations is a volume
of miracles. Revealed history is the history of
miracles. Revealed prophecy is the prophecy of
miracles. The resurrection of Christ was a mira
cle. The resurrection of our race will be a mira
cle. The re-creation of heaven and earth will be

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 189
a miracle. There is no hope of personal or social
perfection or immortality without miracles. All
power in heaven and in earth is in the hands of
our Savior on purpose to qualify him to redeem
us by miracles. And yet, to get rid of miracles,
the most absurd attempts at explanation that were
ever known have been rationalistically applied to
the Scriptures ; and, where even such attempts
could not be made successful, the books themselves,
in whole or part, one or many, have been rashly
and utterly rejected. What makes all this the
more deeply and memorably mournful is the re
flection that it has occurred within the limits of
the Church itself, and among those who ought
to have been its exemplars, guardians, and guides.
" Certainly," it has been said, " no body of Chris
tian ministers, so large, so learned and influential,
in any age or period of the Church, ever before
fell" into such "a depth of falsehood and blas
phemy." Another specially grievous fact in this
connection is that, although this evil, by the grace
of God, is at last declining in the country where
it originated, it is nevertheless, by the malice of
the devil, — like some fashion that has grown old
in Paris and is now perhaps actually laughed at
there, — spreading itself among our own people,
and seeking to renew its horrors in this fairer field.

190 THE BIBLE OPPOSED :
From all such terrible importations there is abun
dant reason why we should earnestly pray, "Good
Lord, deliver us !"
But how shall I even intimate the remaining
topics ? See ! Popular Literature ! What a world
of opposition is here ! Books, reviews, maga
zines, pamphlets, newspapers, in every form, in
every style, at every price, in endless succession,
in boundless multiplication and circulation, in
every house, along every thoroughfare, in all lan
guages and among all nations, — the most acces
sible, the most obtrusive, and perhaps the most
influential and mischievous, instrumentalities of
iniquity now in action. Of all literary produc
tions, novels in particular, contrary to their name,
are now the least novel ; and, among all the
varieties of human character, perhaps there is
not one which may not find a thousand tempt
ing fictions adapted to attract and corrupt it.
Every appetite has its excitant, every passion its
provocative, every vice its encouragement, and
every crime its embellished example, its seductive
apology, its sufficient sanction. " Satanic litera
ture" is the name very properly given to a vast
mass of the issues of the press ; and satanic pur
poses, certainly, are promoted by it to an im
measurable extent. How this whole development

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 191
operates against the study of the Bible and the
performance of the duties it enjoins, I need not
6top to describe.
Again: Business Associations: — in regard to
which I allude chiefly to two things, — the materiel
of trade, and the manner of conducting it; or
the too frequent want of conscience, first, in rela
tion to the personal or social influence of the pro
ducts or fabrics distributed in the community,
and, secondly, in relation to the arts and terms of
barter and sale. In too many instances the Bible
is only a Sunday book, even among those who
profess to regard it as the word of God, — a book
in place, at home or in the sanctuary, on the one
day of rest, but not applicable to the manage
ment and interests of the counting-room and ex
change during the six days of employment and
of gain. All this is a sad obstruction to the pro
gress of pure moral principles.
Again: Benevolent Associations. Even these,
so far, by constraint of circumstances, if they do
not hinder the good work to which they are de
voted, at least fall short of the requirements of
the Bible. For instance, the Bible Society, the
Tract Society, the Sunday-School Union, and
similar institutions, are often successful, through
their agents, by the grace of God, in the con-
17*

192 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
version of sinners. But they have no homes for
their converts, no plan of Christian communion,
no way, when they have persuaded men to become
Christians, of keeping them Christians, no pas
torate, no ordinances, — in a word, no provision for
the establishment of simple, unsectarian, Bible
Churches. On the contrary, their converts are
discouraged from remaining Christians alone, and
are distributed among the different sects accord
ing to their family or other affinities, and so
become liable, at least, against their wish and will,
to sink, little by little, from the great catholic
position of mere disciples of Christ — one with
all other disciples all the world over — into the
divided partisans of all the numerous, various, and
conflicting forms of false authority. The circum
stances which for the present constrain the socie
ties to this mode of action arise from their depend
ence upon denominational contributions. If they
should attempt the organization of simple Bible
Churches, doubtless they would speedily lose the
patronage that now chiefly sustains them. Still,
we may hope that they will prepare no small
amount of material which others may employ in
more liberal Christian associations.
Again : Semi-Benevolent Associations. By this
title I refer chiefly to the various popular socie-

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 193
ties — some old, some new, all more or less secret —
the most or all of which use the Bible in whole,
the New Testament as well as the Old, as the sym
bol of their character and an ostensible bond of
their union. The only apology for the existence
of these societies, it seems to me, is the fact that
the Bible in other connections, where it is right
fully expected to be fairly and fully honored and
obeyed, has been allowed to lose its proper con
trol ; in consequence of which a sort of separation
has occurred between natural and spiritual inte
rests, — the Church devoting itself chiefly to the
spiritual, and leaving the natural, even in relation
to its own members, to be provided for by worldly
expedients or to perish in the want of them.
Now, if the new societies, while they use the Bible,
would also illustrate it by thorough fulfilment of its
requirements, they would accomplish a mighty
reformation. But, in my humble judgment, they
treat the Bible — perhaps unintentionally, or, rather,
without due consideration — with infinitely greater
disrespect than do the Churches. That is, the Bible,
pre-eminently, is the Book of Christ ! Old Testa
ment and New are alike Christ's Testaments !
Without Christ, the Bible is as utterly empty as
would be the sky without air or the sun without
light. Christ is the original of the Bible. The

194 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
Bible is the manifestation of Christ, as Christ
Himself is the manifestation of the Father. The
Bible is the brightness of Christ's glory, and the
express image of His person, just as He is of the
glory and person of the Father. But these socie
ties, many or most, if not all of them, for the
sake of including Jews, infidels, and others, omit
Christ ! — omit His name from their forms and cere
monies ; omit it in th^ir very prayers ; offer Jew
ish prayers, Deistical prayers, — any kind except
Christian prayers. "Ask in my name," said Jesus ;
and no Christian, without sin, can ask in any other
way. But these Societies, in this respect, virtually
deny Christ, — virtually say, We will not ask in thy
name ; which is equivalent to a rejection of His
whole mediatorial character and office. True, I
was informed, on a certain occasion, that one of
these institutions allows its lodges to pray as they
think right, — a very great improvement, and one
which, it is to be hoped, will be imitated by others.
This, however, is the only instance of the kind I
have met ; and it is very obvious that the general
introduction of such a change would occasion
quite a revolution in every Order referred to. At
present, of necessity, they are without true life.
Their sky has no air, their sun is without light.
Again: Public Amusements. It is not neces-

CIVIL AND SOCIAL OPPOSITION. 195
sary to do more than make a passing allusion to
these, as among the main sources of opposition to
the Bible. It is unspeakably grievous to find
that professors of Christianity, instead of holding
themselves and their families more firmly and
sacredly aloof from these reviving and multiply
ing treacheries, show, in many cases, a disposition
rather to yield to their temptations and indulge
in their pleasant wiles. Some years ago it ap
peared as though higher tastes and nobler princi
ples were gaining supremacy in society ; but nov;
there are evidences all around us of some relapse,
at least, toward the low and vile.
Finally, it would be well, if it were practicable,
to dwell somewhat at large on the opposition
to the Bible arising from Fashionable Religion.
Fashionable religion ! — not a holy religion ; not an
intelligent religion ; not an experimental reli
gion ; not a practical religion ; not the religion
of faith, hope, and love ; not the religion of
doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in right
eousness, personal perfection, and social good
works ; not the religion of the Bible ; not the re
ligion of Christ : but, the religion of Fashion !
I mean the religion of Selfishness ! — of personal
selfishness and social selfishness ; the religion of
opulent and exclusive selfishness ; the religion

196 THE BIBLE OPPOSED.
that delights in splendid church architecture,
however ill adapted to gospel purposes ; that de
lights in splendid musical appointments, however
costly, irreverent, or even profane; that delights
in splendid oratory, however destitute of the pulse
of spiritual life or the electric power of the Holy
Ghost ; that delights in splendid drapery and array,
dress and address, attendance and equipage, and
is equally facile in honoring the distinguished,
in contemning the obscure, and in watching the
ranks of rivalry with prejudice, circumvention,
and scorn.
But — it must be so. The time is out. Let
social oppositions pass. They are innumerable
and indescribable.

SERMON IX.

THE BIBLE OPPOSED-EL PERSONAL OPPOSITION.

"Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
None" but a minister of the gospel can fully
express the solicitudes of such a mission ; and it is
not always wise for him to do it. On the present
occasion, however, I trust that the following dis
crimination will be received as both prudent and
appropriate. The Ministerial Charge reads thus : — " Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature." The gospel, therefore, has two rela
tions : first, to the whole world ; and secondly, to
every individual. Now, the minister may get so
much into the habit of contemplating the vast
range of social interests, as to become compara
tively negligent of personal interests ; or, on the
197

198 THE BIBLE OPPOSED :
other hand, he may so exclusively devote himself
to the cultivation of private piety, as to become
improperly careless of the important claims of the
public sphere. Of the two errors, I think the
former the greater. That is, it is a greater evil
to neglect personal interests, than it is to neglect
social interests : for personal interests constitute the
basis on which social interests rest, and without
which they would fall into ruins. Still, the true
plan is to bear both classes of interest in mind,
and give due attention to each.
My previous discussions of this subject have
been of a general character. Sometimes I have
feared, that while I was conducting these in the
manner which you have witnessed, some immediate
personal demands of the congregation might be
unmet ; something, in particular, more intimately
connected with the welfare of the young, with the
conversion of sinners, with the consolation of the
afflicted, might be too long omitted. It is, there
fore, with special readiness, and zeal, and prayer,
and hope — if not with special pleasure — that I am
brought, this morning, by the order of topics
before me, to a consideration of our personal con
nection with this great subject of the authority of
the Bible — a view of it which ought to be im
pressive and useful to every one of us ; and pre-

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 199
eminently so, in the presence of these sacred and
solemn memorials of our Saviour's sufferings and
death. May the Holy Spirit aid us in all our
services !
Personal Opposition to the Bible ! See ! The
Bible itself anticipates this. Doctrinal and practi
cal statements, historical and prophetical examples,
abound in it — showing that it has entered upon its
great struggle with a due estimate of the resistance
to be overcome. Indeed, its whole treatment of
this subject is plain proof of the omniscience of
its inspiration.
Look at a few of its Doctrinal Statements. " The
carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
Again : — " The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish
ness unto him : neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned." Again: — "The
old man" — Le. the natural or carnal man — "is
corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts." Again :
— " Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, mur
ders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false-witness,
blasphemies." And again: — "The works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these : adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
18

200 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunk
enness, revellings, and such like ; of the which,"
says the apostle, " I tell you before, as I have also
told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
These passages, as you perceive, relate to the
constitutional condition of our race. Certainly,
no one can object that they are not plain enough,
positive enough, decisive enough. Such a con
dition must teem with the elements of opposition
to all holiness, and especially to the Book which
is the chief visible symbol of holiness. Moreover,
as our natural condition, it is our common con
dition. Not a single individual is exempt from
it. It may exist in different degrees of virulence,
and with different modes of manifestation, in
different persons. Nay, it is plain that it does
thus exist. But this is the only mitigation
that can be allowed. Even in the fairest speci
mens of natural character, the essential and ma
lignant evil prevails to some degree, and in some
form. Sin, as both hereditary and voluntary, is
literally universal.
Look, also, at a few of the Practical Statements
alluded to. " Ye ask, and receive not, because ye
ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your
lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 201
not that the friendship of the world is enmity with
God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of
the world, is the enemy of God. Do ye think
that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that
dwelleth in us lusteth to envy ?" Again : — " Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world. And the world passeth
away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever." Every kind and
degree of this yearning after the world is a mani
festation of the natural opposition of the heart to
God and all goodness. "How can ye believe,"
said Jesus to the Jews, "which receive honor one
of another, and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only?" St. Paul, also, speaks of some
who are " lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God." Again, he declares — "The god of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them." And St. James, in an exceedingly
impressive admonition, says: — "Let no man say
when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for

202 TnE BIBLE opposed:
God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth
he any man. But every man is tempted when he
is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then,
when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin :
and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
A terrible statement this, and especially the last
clause of it ! Sin may seem pleasant ; nay, doubt
less, in every personal instance, it does seem
pleasant in the commencement of its development
and influence. It is selfishness in unchastened
excitement, in prosperous and joyous action. But
oh ! how treacherous this pleasant sin is ! Like
the vampire, while it fans the form it exhausts the
blood of its victim. Or, to use a Scriptural and
surer figure, like " the wine when it is red, when
it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself
aright, at the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder." " Sin, when it is
finished" — Oh ! remember this, all ye upon whom
it is even now exerting its charming but destruct
ive influence — " Sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death." Like the vampire, again, when it is
full, it leaves its prey in the paleness and coldness
of a sleep that none can break. In view of this
deplorable natural condition, and the necessity of
a new and higher life to counteract and overcome
it, well might our Saviour declare, as to the Jewish

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 203
ruler, with so much solemnity He did declare : —
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Glance, also, at the Historical Statements. In
fidels have sometimes reproached the Bible on
account of its narratives of the wickednesss of
mankind, and particularly because of its record of
the errors, faults, and occasional crimes of the
professed servants and people of God. Strange
reproach ! Why, all this is demonstration of the
consistency, fidelity, and candor of the inspired
writers. Their consistency is demonstrated by
the accordance of their theory with the great
mass of facts in all the world ; their fidelity, by
the acknowledgment of the facts in cases which,
but for their love of truth, they would have pre
ferred to conceal ; and their candor, by the un
equivocal concession of guilt in all such instances,
and, generally, by the appendage of its proper
punishment also. The sooner it is understood,
that the Bible both exposes the turpitude, and
opposes the indulgence' and commision of all
kinds of sin, the better; for this is the fact, and
all men ought to agree upon it.
Here, indeed, is the secret of all personal
opposition to the Bible. The Bible hates sin ;
but men love it. The Bible opposes sin, and
18*

204 THE BIBLE opposed:
therefore men, in behalf of sin, oppose the
Bible. It is exceedingly painful to remember how in
variably this stupid and impure perverseness has
set itself against all God's gracious designs and
redeeming interventions. Had it not been for
this, the Deluge might have been withheld, and
the lingering beauty of the Paradisaical dispensa
tion might have been spared to enchant us still.
The Deluge was not a natural event. It was the
reluctant renewal of primitive judgment. It was
a supernatural and disciplinary visitation. " God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. And it
repented the Lord that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart." " The
earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth
was filled with violence. And God looked upon
the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh
had corrupted his way upon the earth."
Be pleased to pay special attention to this
closing statement. I have seen it explained as
meaning that man had corrupted his own way
upon the earth, — his customs, manners, and habits.
But, surely, this is not the meaning. The meaning
is, all flesh had corrupted God's way upon the

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 205
earth ; and, thus understood, this passage becomes
one of the key-notes of the whole Bible oratorio,
or, rather, one of the master-symbols of its great
philosophy. See! God has always had a "way upon the
earth," i. e. a plan of government ; and this way,
as the very embodiment of His infinite goodness,
wisdom, and power, modified to suit the circum
stances of the chief eras of time, is the way, of
course, in which our race ought to have walked.
Had we walked in God's way, what a path of
glory and joy it would have proved to be ! "As
for God," — says the Psalmist, — " His way is per
fect ; the word of the Lord is tried ; He is a buck
ler to all those who trust in him. For who is God,
save the Lord ? or who is a Rock, save our God ?"
It matters not how God's way is announced,
whether by His own voice, by His angels, by in
spired men, or, as at present, by the Inspired
Record ; it is substantially the same way, and the
right way, and, let men make as many experi
ments as they will, the only right way. His
ways — like those of wisdom — are " ways of plea
santness," and all His "paths are peace." For
want of willingness to pursue the proper course
thus divinely prescribed for us, we have stumbled
upon the mountains and fainted in the valleys,

206 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
wandering among rocks and pits, and filling the
world with vain lamentations.
Why did the Almighty at first impair the hu
man estate by the severe judgment pronounced in
Eden? Because Adam had corrupted His way,
violated His government, and so made such a
change absolutely necessary. Just so it was that
the Deluge was occasioned. All flesh followed
the example of Adam. After long trial, God
found His modified administration so utterly per
verted and abused that nothing remained but to
change the whole physical system again , and, by
means of a new stock, to make a new trial, securing
if practicable greater obedience, and so exhibiting
a happier succession of generations.
The result was much the same as before.
During the comparatively brief interval between
the flood and the call of Abraham, it would seem
that the new race had all lapsed into idolatry. By
the agency of Abraham, however, God again re
vealed His way; and again, in a few hundred
years, it was generally corrupted. Then came the
great national manifestation of it, by the miracu
lous mission of Moses, and the cloud-wrapt pre
sence, and frequent audible superintendency, of
Jehovah himself. Exceedingly solemn and im
perative were the requirements of obedience to

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 207
this new revelation. "Ye shall observe to do,
therefore, as the Lord your God hath commanded
you ; ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or
to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which
the Lord your God hath commanded you."
" Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that, as
a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God
chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the
commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in
his way, and to fear him." Notwithstanding,
however, all the wonders and solemnities of that
grand governmental disclosure, it was not long
before, to a great extent, it shared the fate of its
predecessors. Human nature was seen to be as
unmanageable as of old.
True, the Mosaic economy in whole was stamped
too deeply on the fortunes of Egypt, of the tribes
hovering along the borders of the Desert, and of
the Canaanites and their conquerors, ever to be
effaced from the history of the world. In parti
cular, it so permeated the personal, domestic, so
cial, national, and international life and action of
the Israelites themselves ; so identified itself with
every step of their progress through the ages,
whether in weal or wo, at home or in exile ; so
multiplied its monuments, and verified its rewards
and penalties among them, holding them, whether

208 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
obedient or disobedient, under a manifestly omni
present, omniscient, and omnipotent control, — that
it was utterly impossible it should ever fall into
such desuetude as to be forgotten. It was divinely
emblazoned on sky and landscape. It shines there
still. Nay, it burns there still, burns in wrath,
waiting for mercy. It is, at this moment, the most
imperishable thing among the rocks of Sinai.
The mosque of Omar, overshadowing Moriah," is
but a mist to the firmament, when compared to
the endurance of the Law. " Till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from
the law, till all be fulfilled."
Still, God's way was corrupted again, as in pre
ceding instances. I often think of the solicitudes
of Moses, in this connection ; of the aggregate of
personal oppositions which he was called to bear
every day for so many years, and especially
of his clear, sure, sad prophetic contemplations
of continued and increased rebellion after his
decease. Though the meekest of men, he was
provoked into offences which prevented his own
entrance into the promised land; and when he
drew near his last hour, after depositing the Law
in the Ark as a witness, he mournfully declared,
"I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck; behold,
while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 209
been rebellious against the Lord, and how much
more after my death? Gather unto me all the
elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may
speak these words in their ears, and call heaven
and earth to record against them. For I know
that after my death ye will utterly corrupt your
selves, and turn aside from the way which I have
commanded you ; and evil will befall you in the
latter days, because ye will do evil in the sight of
the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the
work of your hands." Indeed, the Lord Himself
refers to the same trial, in one of the Psalms, say
ing, "Forty years long was I grieved with that
generation, and said, It is a people that do err in
their hearts, and they have not known my ways ;
unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they should
not enter into my rest."
But that was only the beginning. Come down
to the time of Solomon — a conspicuous example.
After the gifts made to him of wisdom, under
standing, riches, and honor, almost beyond parallel,
God said to him, "If thou wilt walk in my
ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments,
as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen
thy days." That is, I will grant thee the longest
life for the enjoyment of the greatest prosperity.
On the memorable day of the dedication of the

210 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
temple, that same Solomon, in his noble supplica
tion, thus, in part, besought the Lord: — "Then
hear thou from heaven, thy dwelling-place, and
forgive, and render unto every man according unto
all his ways, whose heart thou knowest ; (for thou
only knowest the hearts of the children of men ;)
that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so
long as they live in the land which thou gavest
unto our fathers." And yet, that same Solomon
proved himself perhaps the greatest corrupter of
God's ways whom the Israelites ever knew. There
fore it is written, "And the Lord was angry
with Solomon, because his heart was turned from
the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto
him twice." Therefore, also, the adversaries which
were raised up to vex him, and therefore, too, the
threatened, and finally the actual, disruption of his
kingdom, "because," — said "the Lord, the God
of Israel," — "that they have forsaken me, and
have worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the
Zidonians ; Chemosh, the god of the Moabites ; and
Milcom, the god of the children of Ammon ; and
have not walked in my ways to do that which is
right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and
my judgments, as did David his father."
Hear the prophet also: — "Who gave Jacob for
a spoil and Israel to the robbers?" inquired

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 211
Isaiah. "Did not the Lord, He against whom we
have sinned ? for they would not walk in his ways,
neither were they obedient unto his law." "Thus
saith the Lord," exclaimed Jeremiah, "Stand ye
in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye
shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We
will not walk therein." Again : — " Since the day
that your fathers came forth out of the land of
Egypt unto this day, I have even sent unto you
all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early,
and sending them : yet they hearkened not unto
me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck ;
they did worse than their fathers." Therefore
followed the captivity, with all ita humiliations and
sorrows. Ezekiel represented the Jews as worse than
the Samaritans and Sodomites, saying, "Yet
hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done
after their abominations ; but, as if that were a very
little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they, in
all thy ways. As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom
thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters,
as thou hast, done, thou and thy daughters." And
so it continued, until the close of that dispensa
tion : the very last verse of the Old Testament in
timating that, but for the change of dispensation,
God would smite the earth with another curse.
19

212 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
Then came the Christian dispensation. " God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners
Bpake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us
by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all
things, by whom also he made the worlds ; who,
being the brightness of his glory and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by
the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high; being made so much better
than the . angels, as he hath by inheritance ob
tained a more excellent name than they." " There
fore," says the same apostle in the same con
nection, " we ought to give the more earnest heed
to the things which we have heard, lest at any
time we should let them slip. For if the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every trans
gression and disobedience received a just recom-
pence of reward, how shall we escape, if we neg
lect so great salvation ; which at the first began to
be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto
us by them that heard him; God also bearing
them witness, both with signs and wonders, and
with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will ?"
But there is too often a great difference between

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 213
our duty and our conduct; between even our
interest and our conduct. We have seen what
ought to have been done ; what a superior welcome
ought to have been given to this greatest of all
dispensations: but what was done? what kind
of a welcome was extended ? The New Testa
ment history is not like the Old. Instead of ex
tending through more than a thousand years, it
closes with the first century. Still, it is sufficient
to show, as far as it goes, a result in this case
corresponding with that of every preceding case.
" Prepare ye the way of the Lord," cried the
Baptist in the wilderness, "make his paths
straight." And so they did. " Then went out to
him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region
round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in
Jordan, confessing their sins." But, when the
Lord himself came, in the way thus prepared for
him, and in the path thus made straight for his
feet, the very people who had so carefully pre
pared His way and straightened His path, "de
spised and rejected" Him ! What though he was
the " Son" of God ? What though He was " the
heir of all things"? What though He did " make
the worlds"? What though He was " the bright
ness of the Father's glory and the express image
of His person"? What though He did " uphold

214 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
all things by the word of His power"? Did He
not know better than to take upon Him "the
form of a servant," and be " found in fashion as a
man" — "a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief"? Did He not know that they expected Him
to appear in transcendent pomp and power ; sub
duing the Gentiles to His royal sceptre, and eleva
ting Israel to the dominion of the world ? How
dared He to disappoint their just expectations ?
Such a Messiah, indeed ! Nay, verily, they " hid,
as it were," their " faces from Him. He was de
spised, and" they "esteemed Him not." That is,
in few words, in this, as in all other instances,
they preferred their own way to God's way. Even
some of those who became convinced, at last, that
Jesus of Nazareth was really the Christ, soon
began to corrupt God's way, endeavoring to blend
the works of the law with the grace of the gos
pel ; so that this history also, brief as it is, shows
the continued and accumulating strength of the
same old spirit of natural, sinful, opposition, even
to the wisest and most merciful of all the divine
instructions in behalf of our race. The Apostolic
Epistles, in particular, are full of illustrations of
this opposition.
As it was with the Jews, so was it with the
Gentiles. The gospel differed from the law, in

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 215
the universality of its appeal. No commission
was ever given to a group of prophets like that
which Christ gave to his group of apostles. It
was never said, "Go ye into all the world and
preach Judaism to every creature." The world
was reserved for the inheritance of the " new and
everlasting covenant." Peter opened the gate of
the Gentiles at Caesarea. Afterward, Paul opened
a hundred gates, — one of them at Rome itself.
What, then, was the result among the Gentiles?
The gospel found them in an awful condition. It
is written that, " as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God" had given "them over
to a reprobate mind," and they were "filled with
all unrighteousness." They "walk," said their
own apostle, again, " in the vanity of their mind,
having the understanding darkened, being alien
ated from the life of God, through the ignorance
that is in them, because of the blindness, or hard
ness, of their heart, who, being past feeling, have
given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work
all uncleanness with greediness." As a matter
of course, the preaching of the gospel to such
nations was an enterprise of imminent peril, —
prosecuted always at the risk of life, and often
with the loss of life. True, everywhere, to some
extent, the encouragement of success was secured :
19*

gl6 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
churches were established in the chief cities
of the Roman empire ; and Christianity, though
generally regarded as a new superstition, became
known throughout the world. Among the Gen
tile Christians, however, as well as among the
Jewish, signs of corruption soon appeared. God's
way was thought capable of improvement, and the
rival philosophies of the East and of the West, the
Persian and the Grecian, both attempted the task
of making it what it ought to be. These results
also find their confirmation in the various Epistles.
The cause was the same, — the old inveteracy of
human malignity against the purity and wisdom
of the Divine compassion.
Turning, however, from the historical state
ments of the Bible in this connection, the view
must be completed by a glance at its Prophetical
statements. Our Lord himself anticipated, even more clearly
and certainly than did Moses, the character and
extent of future opposition. Not only His own
sufferings and death, but the martyrdom of His
apostles, the persecution of His disciples gene
rally, the whole fate of His cause prior to the
destruction of Jerusalem, and its subsequent pro
gressive struggles in all the world, to the end of
the world, — all this range was open to His con-

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 217
templation, and more or less fully described in
His literal and parabolic predictions. When
Christ had closed His personal ministry and
ascended to heaven, His Spirit, as was promised,
took his place. And so said St. Paul : — " Now, the
Spirit speaketh expressly that, in the latter times,
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits and doctrines of devils ; speaking
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and com
manding to abstain from meats, which God hath
created to be received with thanksgiving of them
which believe and know the truth." This, you
perceive, is the foresight of a great Christian
apostasy, — a departure from the faith. Again says
the same apostle : — " This know also, that in the
last days perilo us times shall come ; for men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, un
thankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, de
spisers of those that are good, traitors, heady,
high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers
of God, — having a form of godliness but denying
the power thereof." This is supposed by some to
relate to Infidelity, as the other to Romanism ; but
the latter part of the description connects it with

218 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
a religious profession, whether honestly made or
not. Infidelity is more plainly anticipated by
Peter, in this language: — "There shall come in
the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of
His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep
all things continue as they were from the begin
ning of the creation." And so, in the Epistle of
Jude: — "But, beloved, remember ye the words
which were spoken before of the apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ : how that they told you there
should be mockers in the last time, who should
walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they
who separate themselves, sensual, having not the
Spirit." That is, materialism against spiritualism,
— the great strife, indeed, of all ages, in some form.
But the last book of the New Testament is the
one which contains the most numerous, various,
and impressive anticipations of opposition. The
most interesting theory in relation to the Apocalypse
is, that it was designed to complete the cycle of
revelation by filling up with prophecy the whole
interval from the Christian era to the end of the
world ; so that, by means of the history and pro
phecy of the Bible conjoined, we may hold in one
view the entire course of human affairs, from the
creation of Adam to the final establishment of the

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 219
city and kingdom of God, and the glorious in
heritance of the saints in the full enjoyment of
everlasting life.
I cannot enter upon the particular predictions
of this wonderful book. It ansAvers my purpose
to notice the fact that they involve a series of
oppositions — natural, sinful, malignant opposi
tions — to all God's works and ways ; ending,
indeed, in the triumph of immortal holiness and
joy, but continued to the very latest moment of
practicable resistance, and only destroyed at last
by the Omnipotence that can tolerate them no
longer. As long as shall be possible, this poor,
miserable, foolish nature of ours will summon
whatever specimens of its hatred remain, to array
them against all the manifestations of the infinite
perfections of Jehovah.
Such, then, is the Bible anticipation of opposition,
—of personal opposition, assuming in its progress
all varieties of social opposition. Its doctrinal and
practical statements are strictly, truly, and satisfac
torily philosophical. Its historical and prophetical
examples — corroborated and confirmed by the ob
servation, experience, and literary and other monu
ments, of all mankind — are exactly such as would
be expected to accompany and illustrate such a
philosophy. The lesson which combines all the

220 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
elements we have collected is this : — That there is a
constitutional opposition of man to God, — of man's
selfishness to God's benevolence, of man's supposed
wisdom to God's real wisdom, of man's sensualism
to God's spiritualism, of man's foulness to God's
holiness, of man's madness to God's mercy, of
man's wretchedness to God's happiness; and that
this natural, common, personal hostility has mani
fested itself, from the beginning of the world, in the
instant rej ecti on or gradual corruption of every plan
of government and every covenant of redemption
which God has ever introduced into the world;
or, in one word, has manifested itself in the per
petual preference of our own way to the way of
the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
— the only wise God and our Savior.
It is with all this reason to anticipate continued
opposition that the Bible comes to us this day. It
comes to us, knowing that we naturally dislike it.
It comes to us, knowing that in many instances,
at least, we have dishonored it, and still dishonor
it. It comes to us, knowing that on thousands of
occasions we have preferred the merest trash of
bigots, fools, and skeptics to the rich infinitude
of its redeeming and Divine intelligence. It comes
to us, knowing that, although God has magnified
it above all His name, we have presumed to pass

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 221
it with neglect or repel it with scorn. Still, it
comes to us with a pity as great as its glory. It
comes to us to plead with us, — to plead with us in
the spirit of one of its own prophets, — nay, in the
Spirit of the God who sent him.
"Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith
the Lord, and with your children's children will
I plead. For, pass over the isles of Chittim, and
see, and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently,
and see if there be such a thing. Hath a nation
changed its gods ? — which yet are no gods ? But
my people have changed their glory for that which
doth not profit. Be astonished, 0 ye heavens, at
this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate,
saith the Lord. For my people have committed
two evils : they have forsaken me, the fountain of
living waters, and hewed to themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that can hold no water." No
wonder the heavens were called to darken and
shudder over such a scene of ineffable folly and
woe !
But we have committed the same evils. And
yet the Bible comes to us still, pleading with us,
and with our children, and with our children's
children, beseeching us to return to our God.
Surely it is an unspeakable condescension for
the Almighty to assert his own superiority to such

222 THE BIBLE OPPOSED :
worms as we are ; and yet, unless He do it, we are
lost. Never can we cast off the case of our worm-
hood and soar away upon the pinions of angelic
immortality, until, by some means, God succeeds
in getting the notion and the belief and the ad
miration of His own infinite excellency into our
souls, to annihilate the insolence of self and sin
and quicken us with the sympathies of universal
truth and love.
Hearken, then, to the gracious challenge: —
" Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call
ye upon Him while he is near. Let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and
He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for
He will abundantly pardon. For" — see! here is
the divine condescension, — " for my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Oh, the goodness of God ! to stoop to assure us
of such a truth as this ! And yet we need such
stooping; for, though no language in heaven,
earth, or hell can declare the absurdity of the
thing, still, it is the fact of all time, the demon
stration of every age and of every generation,

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 223
that we think our thoughts higher than God's
thoughts and our ways higher than God's ways.
Thank God, therefore, for condescending to assure
us that this is an error ! Thank God for the hope
that the world will yet confess and abandon this
error ! Thank God for the number of those who
have abandoned it, and who now sit, in their right
mind, clothed with humility, at the feet of Jesus,
with the open Bible on their knees, and the light
of their Master's countenance shining upon it !
Oh, my brethren, it was always so, though the
world knew it not ! Before the first book of the
Bible was written, the voice that proclaimed the
ways of God was the sublimest voice on all the
air. When the first book of the Bible was written,
that book was the sublimest vision in all the light.
As book after book was added to the first, it was
like the opening of heaven over heaven, revealing
new forms of truth and good, of beauty and
bliss. When the whole development was com
plete, it was like the telescopic expansion of a
boundless universe before contracted or con
cealed. And now, pleased with His work, God
hallows the Sabbath of revelation, and magnifies
His word above all his name. It is full of His
thoughts and ways,— full of thoughts of wisdom
and ways of mercy, full of thoughts of pardon
20

224 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
and ways of salvation, full of thoughts of grace
and ways of glory. As the heavens are higher
than the earth ; as the meteoric heavens are higher
than the earth ; as the starry heavens are higher
than the earth ; as the third heavens are higher
than the earth ; as the heaven of heavens —
transcending the utmost amplitudes of all as
tronomy, overarching and comprehending all
other heavens; as that heaven — the heaven of
innumerable and immeasurable heavens, the Lord
God Almighty's own intensely-illumined, inac
cessible, and imperishable heaven — is higher than
the earth, if any one can remember what the
earth is, — so are God's thoughts higher than our
thoughts, and God's ways higher than our ways !
The Bible is the spiritual immensity in which the
thoughts of God are suns and the ways of God
are systems. There they shine forever, there
they roll forever, — every thought more radiant
than our noonday fire, and every way more beauti
ful than Saturn with all his rings and moons, and
with a wider sweep than Neptune through all his
tremulous range of outer gloom. There they
shine forever and roll forever, — some in sight, and
some out of sight, ever multiplying through the
penetrating power of more spiritual instruments,
and still stretching away and away and away, as if

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 225
to invite the continually-extending explorations
pf our most earnest and delighted immortality.
But all efforts are vain to tell the true difference
between the thoughts and ways of God and those
of man. God is infinite, man is finite ; and we
can say no more. Let us therefore descend to
simple and more practical views. Let us resolve
that we will return to God; that we will endeavor
to improve the gift of the Bible ; that we will take
from it God's thoughts and try to make them our
own thoughts, and take from it His ways and
try to make them our own ways.
If Adam had not preferred his own way to
God's way, Paradise might have been blooming
yet. If the antediluvians, generally, had not
corrupted God's way upon the earth, the foun
tains of the great deep might have remained
sealed until this very hour. If the postdiluvians
had not fallen into the same sin, the confusion of
tongues and division of nations might never have
been necessary. If the Israelites had not followed
the sad example, they might have enjoyed the dew
of heaven and the fatness of the earth in their
own holy land even to this day. If the early
Christians had been true to their trust, Romanism,
Grecianism, and Protestantism might never have
disturbed the world, and all other evils might long

226 THE BIBLE OPPOSED:
ago have vanished from the realms of truth and
peace. If we ourselves had not, "like sheep,
gone astray," had not "turned every one to his
own way," it would not have been requisite for
us to remember, with shame and grief, that the
" Lord hath laid upon" Jesus " the iniquity of us
all." Alas for the series of unspeakable humilia
tions ! Behold the consequences of this miserable
wilfulness of our race ! Adam exchanged the
sonship of God for the servitude of the devil.
The antediluvians rebelled against their Maker
for the privilege of murdering each other and
destroying the world. The postdiluvians forgot
the rainbow Redeemer to worship brutes and
reptiles. The Israelites forsook the Mighty One
who smote Egypt, sundered the sea, shaded the
desert, shook the mountain, parted the river, and
rolled the thunder of His omnipotence from the
palm-covered wells of Beersheba to the cedar-
crowned peaks of Lebanon, to bow down to the
meanest idols of the tribes they conquered and en
slaved. The Christians abandoned their allegiance
to the Son and Heir of the Highest to kiss the
slipper of the Pope, exchanged the authority of
the Bible for the authority of the miscalled
Church, and renounced the spiritual merits of the

PERSONAL OPPOSITION. 227
blood of atonement for the transubstantiated
mysteries of a wafer. And we ourselves, — what
have we gained by this marvellous preference of
our own way to God's way ? Is there man or
woman here who does not know that all the
degradations and remorseful remembrances of life
are consequences of selfish opposition to the
purity, wisdom, and benevolence of Jehovah ?
Who is there among us, that, having used the
Bible as the lamp to his feet and the light to his
path, has gone astray ?
Oh, let the time past suffice wherein we have
wrought folly. Have we ardent affections ? Let
us purify them with the love of God as revealed
in the Bible. Have we an indomitable will? Let
us devote it to the promotion of the cause of
the Bible. Have we genius ? Let us quicken
it with the inspirations of the Bible. Have
we learning ? Let us humble it before the
unerring truthfulness of the Bible. Have we
wealth ? Let us consecrate it to the benevolent
promptings of the Bible. Let our character, in
whole, be a Bible character. Let our homes be
Bible homes. Let our churches be Bible churches.
Let us remember that the glory is not in. the
house, not in the style, not in the cost, not
in the material magnificence or splendor of any
20*

228 THE BIBLE OPPOSED.
external connection, but in the gospel, — in the
man-subduing gospel ; in the God-glorifying gos
pel ; in the gospel which is the " power of God
anto salvation unto every one that believeth."

SERMON X.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE OVER ALL OPPOSITION.

" Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
Ps. cxxxviii. 2.
PAET I.
This last sermon of the series brings .us to our
proper culminating topic. In preceding discourses
we have noticed, briefly — What the Bible is in itself;
What it is as compared with Creation and Providence,
with the Church and the State ; What it is as pre
eminently the Book of Christ ; What its current con
dition is as the only sensible, infallible, and divine
authority on earth; How it is abroad, and rightly
abroad, in all the world ; and, How, being thus abroad,
it is extensively and violently opposed. Now, there
fore, as just intimated, I propose to conclude with
the culmination of the whole subject in the triumph
of the Bible over all opposition.
The only argument required in the case may be
229

230 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
presented in the form of a simple inference from the
text. That is — As God, from the beginning, has
magnified His word above all His name, so He will
continue to magnify it even unto the end. This
inference commends itself to my judgment as all-
sufficient for the occasion, and is the more acceptable
because of its harmony with all that has gone before.
It will be found, however, more than a mere infer
ence — a doctrine confirmed by numerous, explicit, and
decisive testimonies.
See ! The chief forms of opposition to the Bible,
as heretofore stated, are — Pagan, Mohammedan, Jew
ish and nominally Christian. The Pagan, Moham
medan and Jewish forms of it are comparatively
passive; the nominally Christian alone being earn
estly and widely active. This active opposition was
described as Ecclesiastical, Civil, Social, and Personal.
The Ecclesiastical was found, in different degrees, in
the Greek, Roman, and Protestant Churches; the
Civil in all countries where Church and State are
united; the Social in connection with speculative
philosophy, natural science, natural theology, biblical
criticism, popular literature, business pursuits, be
nevolent associations, semi-benevolent associations,
public amusements, and fashionable religion. To
these might have been added the grosser forms of
infidelity and such delusions and impostures as Mor-

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 231
monism and Spiritualism. The personal opposition
was traced to the natural corruption of the heart, as
witnessed in its historic and prophetic developments.
This indeed prevails not only within the limits of
Christendom, but among all our race.
Now, therefore, the affirmation is, that over all this
opposition the Bible is destined to triumph ! Do you
ask — How ? when ? where ? Do you say, It requires
strong faith to assure one of this ? For lo ! the vast,
passive, stolid, ignorant, superstitious, vicious, ob
stinate opposition of Paganism, Mohammedanism,
and Judaism ! And lo ! the zealous, active, wide
spread, various, subtle, searching, insidious, unrelent
ing opposition within our own Christian borders !
Can it be that all this shall be overcome ? Certainly :
all this, and more than this, if there be any more,
both can and will be overcome : more certainly than
that the sun shall rise to-morrow.
Remember how, from the beginning, God has mag
nified His word above all His name. Remember that
there was a time, more than three thousand years ago,
before the first book of the Bible was written. What
ever was known of God, then, was learned from His
wTorks, or received by tradition from such of the
patriarchs as had held oral communication with Him
or His messengers. The intelligence thus accumulated
was incidental and imperfect. Something was neces-

232 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
sary, more correct and complete, and in a form better
adapted to perpetual preservation. Then it was, that,
to begin at least the supply of this necessity, Moses,
by divine inspiration, composed the book of Genesis.
Think of it! — that first inspired record! There
alone it existed, a single, autograph volume, in an
encampment of emancipated slaves, in the Arabian
desert. And yet, even of that one manuscript, it
might have been said, God has magnified His word
above all His name ; for never before was He so glori
ously revealed to mankind, either by natural symbols
or in personal interviews. Next, by the same author,
followed Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuter
onomy, so perfecting what has ever since been styled
the Law of Moses. Then, after the entrance into
Canaan, succeeded Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and
Second Samuel, and First Chronicles. Perhaps the
book of Job was written in the early part of the same
period. So far we have twelve books. Then came
the Psalms, chiefly, indeed, by David, but in part by
other authors, and occupying, in whole, some five
hundred years. The one containing our text is en
titled, A Psalm of David. If David was its author,
he must have referred, in the text, to the twelve
books just mentioned. Thou hast magnified Thy
word, as found in these twelve books, above all Thy
name. Notwithstanding its title, however, this

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 233
Psalm is assigned, by some chronologists, to a later
date — even so late as the dedication of the second
temple, on which occasion they supposed it was sung.
If this be correct, then, in the interval, about twenty
other books had been added, and the text must be
regarded as applying to thirty-two in all. Seven
books of the Old Testament, and all the books of
the New Testament, are thus omitted from the
original application of the text. That is, the Psalm
ist, whoever he was, and whenever he lived, is not to
be understood as affirming, primarily, of the whole
Bible, just as we have it — the sixty-six books of the
Old and New Testaments both — that God has mag
nified Hjs word, in this form, above all His name ; but,
as a matter of course, he affirmed this only of the in
spired records which were then extant, unless pro
phetically, whether twelve, twenty or more. At
most, they were only a part of the Old Testament ;
and yet, just as they stood, they were crowned by Je
hovah, in the presence of the universe, with this in
comparable honor. It will appear, on a little re
flection, that this contemplation is of importance in
the progress of our discussion.
See ! Before the production of those books, and
during the ages in which they were produced, heaven
and earth were as full of the natural symbols of the
Divine existence, character, and government as they

234 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
are now. Creation and providence everywhere dis
played their permanent ahd changeable wonders —
sun and moon, stars and comets, continents and
oceans, day and night, and the rolling seasons. Nay,
more, society had already assumed organic forms,
more or less resembling Church and State, and claim
ing the right, by Divine authority, to impart instruc
tion and enforce obedience in the high relations of
religion and law. Still further, as already intimated,
amidst the abounding false pretensions, there was a
traditional line of true revelation, which had come
down from the beginning, though not designed as
continuously adequate to the growing wants of the
world. But when, in after ages, the Almighty would
direct attention to His grandest disclosures of truth —
to the noblest means He had employed to accelerate
and improve the progress of mankind — whither did
He point ? To sun or moon ? star or comet ? earth,
air, or sea? day or night? spring, summer, autumn,
or winter ? Had He spent the centuries in embellish
ing with new and more splendid significance the im
mensity of creation? or in giving clearer voice and
juster harmony to the innumerable instrumentalities
of providence ? Had He ever appeared in our noon
day sky, teaching the nations in tones reverberating
from pole to pole ? Had He ever taken His stand
among the stars and written His will, in sight of the

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 235
world, Avith his own right hand, on the smooth firma
ment, in lines of indelible lightning ? No, no ; the
vast circles of creation, providence, and society, re-
dmained as they were. God had done more than all
this, and was content to point to the few parchment
records among His chosen people, in their little sea-
coast heritage, and proclaim to men and angels that
He had magnified His word, as thus given to them,
above all His name ! There the Sun of the Law, and
the Moon of the Prophecy, far more magnificent than
the lights of nature and the miracles of providence,
at the command of our greater Joshua, stood still,
not for a day only, but for ages on ages, shining on
Zion and all the realm around it, with a glory and
beauty nowhere else disclosed, and with results of
victory. It is astonishing how men are imposed upon by
the material, even by matter without life. There is
a bowlder ; here is a grain of wheat. The bowlder
weighs a thousand tons ; the grain scarcely anything.
But the bowlder is a great thing, and the grain a
little thing. Bowl the bowlder around the globe,
east and west, north and south. Try every soil with
it, and every climate. Let it rest a century for each
experiment. And what is the result ? ' Tis the same
bowlder still, only worn by the abrasion and exposure.
Meantime, some one has planted the grain of wheat
21

236 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
in the centre of the Mississippi valley ; and while you
are vainly bowling the bowlder, he sees the wheat
run eastward to the Alleghanies, westward to the
Rocky Mountains, over both to the Atlantic and the
Pacific, and northward and southward toward both
poles, annually whitening into a universal harvest.
What difference can it make whether the truth be
revealed on a world, or in a word ? The word is
nothing, and the world is nothing — the truth is all.
What is the truth? that is the question. Would you
understand, more perfectly, how it is that God has
magnified His word above all His name? — how He
did thus magnify even the part of it to which the
text originally referred ? Behold, how easy, and how
satisfactory, the answer ! It was — by the truth He
put in it : That truth which is spirit and life. And
what truth did He put in it? Take Genesis — the
first book. Take the first chapter. Take the first
verse. And hark ! — " In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth." What now? May I
not ask, with equal reverence and confidence, could
God himself improve that ? Would it be any im
provement to make the first heaven, the second
heaven, the third heaven, or the heaven of heavens,
all ablaze with it ? Would it be any simpler or sub-
limer in itself, or could we understand it any better ?
Is it not complete? Take the third verse: "And

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 237
God said, Let there be light ; and there was light."
Is not that absolutely perfect ? Is it not next to the
creation of the light — the one God's act, and the other
just as evidently his own declaration of the act ? If
all the light in the universe were employed in re
peating the record to the utmost reach of immensity,
it would be no plainer or grander than it now is.
Take the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh verses :
"And God said, Let us make man, in our image,
after our likeness ; and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So, God
created man, in His own image, in the image of God
created He him ; male and female created He them."
Was it possible for the Almighty to give greater
dignity to humanity than by such a revelation as
that ? Who can even imagine a truth more exalted, or
a form more fit for its conveyance to our race ? And
so with the whole chapter. Its Divine intelligence is
worthy to be embodied in the amplest and most illus
trious symbols of the universe ; but it has pleased
God the rather to enshrine it in His word, and so He
has magnified His word above all His name.
This, however, is merely the beginning : the first
chapter of the first book. And what shall I say
of the additional truth in the forty-nine other chap-

238 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
ters of this same book, narrating, as they do, the con
trolling events of the world, from the creation to the
death of the patriarch Joseph — an interval of more
than twenty-three centuries? Think of the original
condition of moral and physical perfection in Para
dise. Think of the introduction of sin, and its
awful consequences, universal and perpetual. Think
of the promise of redemption. Think of the world
before the Flood. Think of the Flood itself, and its
effects in all the earth. Think of the world after the
Flood. Think of the covenant with Noah. Think
of the division of the earth. Think of the confusion
of tongues. Think of the separation of the nations.
Think of the prevalence of idolatry. Think of the
call of Abraham, and of the covenant with him and
his seed for ever. Think of the descent of the Israel
ites into Egypt ; and so come again to the close of
this first book. Within this range, we have the his
tory of more than a third of the duration of the
world : the history both of nature and society, and
of the manifestations of God Himself, personally and
by His angels, in government of both. Moreover,
prophecies are interspersed through all the record,
taking hold on all time and extending into eternity.
This is the truth in the case ; truth of vital import
ance to the honor of our Maker and the welfare of
our race. God has magnified this part of His word

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 239
by committing this truth to its keeping ; and magni
fied it above all His name, inasmuch as it is truth
which can be found nowhere else, and which, not
withstanding all opposition, ancient and modern, has
been sacredly maintained, in this form, free from any
fatal error, through the vicissitudes of all generations.
Does God uphold the universe ? Not more certainly
than he guards, sanctions, and sustains His own au
thority in the Book of Genesis.
It is a common thing for preachers to make fre
quent reference to the beginning, as described in this
book. Some complain of this. The complaint is
unjust. Such references are inevitable. The proph
ets made them. The apostles made them. Our
Saviour Himself made them. They are essential to
the understanding of our Holy Religion, and of most,
if not all, of the greatest problems which agitate
modern society. - To say the least of it, the Book of
Genesis is as important this moment, as it ever was.
"Thy word is true from the beginning," said the
Psalmist: "and every one of Thy righteous judg
ments endureth forever." So of this particular book.
Like Christ Himself, whose works of creation it nar
rates, and whose works of redemption it predicts, it
is " the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever." It is
styled Breshith — " In the beginning," and is designed
to connect the beginning with the end.
21*

240 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
And what now ? It is obviously impracticable to
notice, even thus briefly, each of the books originally
alluded to in the text. But, the next in order, the
book of Exodus, must not be passed without some
special attention. I need not describe the servile
sufferings of the Israelites in Egypt, nor the mission
of Moses, nor the smiting of the oppressors, nor the
deliverance of the oppressed, nor their subsistence in
the desert, nor the great Variety of minor statutes and
judgments enjoined upon them. When I ask, How
did God magnify the book of Exodus, in particular,
above all His name ? What truth did He put into
this part of His word ? — the first grand and mighty
answer comes : He committed to it, from His own
vocal rehearsal, and from His own stone-wrought
autograph, the perfect purity of the Moral Law — the
transcript of the Decalogue — the Ten Command
ments, as though numbered upon His fingers, to
show their completeness ; the Two Tables, as though
the stretching forth of His hands, all thrilling with
omnipotence, to grasp the palpitating conscience of
the world, and hold it fast forever.
In this instance, God did manifest himself person
ally : not among the stars, indeed, nor yet in the
zenith of our own sky, nor to all the nations of the
earth, but on the top of one ofthe noblest mountains
of the globe, in open day, and in the presence of the

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 241
twelve tribes ; not visibly, indeed, except as to the
clouds which enshrined Him, but more distinctly au
dible than trumpet or thunder, searching the souls of
all with overpowering solemnity, and causing them
to shrink from the terrible glory in fear of instant
death. Hark ! and as you hearken, think — think
how little would be gained, if such words were in
scribed on the firmament or sounded from the planets,
"And God spake all these words, saying:"
"I am the Lord thy God, which have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. " Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
" Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them ; for I the Lord thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generations of
them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands
of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy
God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guilt
less that taketh his name in vain.
" Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six

242 THE TRIUMPH OP THE BIBLE
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work : but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in
it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor
thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy
gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day : wherefore the Lord blessed the Sab
bath-day, and hallowed it.
" Honour thy father and thy mother ; that thy days
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee.
" Thou shalt not kill.
" Thou shalt not commit adultery.
" Thou shalt not steal.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou
shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man
servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass,
nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Who can imagine the awful sublimity of such
scenery, such a voice, such commandments, and such
a conscious nearness of God ! No wonder that the
peojfle, witnessing " the thunderings, and the light
nings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the moun-

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 243
tain smoking" — " removed and stood afar off!" No
wonder " they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us,
and we will hear : but let not God speak with us, lest
we die ! " How amazingly did Jehovah then " mag
nify" His " word" above all " His name !"
But there is another instance in this book, of simi
lar grandeur. True, it is a revelation, made directly
to Moses alone ; but, through him, it was made to
Israel and the world. It is of the utmost importance.
I allude to the proclamation of the name of Jehovah ;
with its moral significance ; as recorded in the thirty-
fourth chapter. You may remember, that in the 6th
chapter, "God spake unto Moses, and said unto
him, I am the Lord ; and I appeared unto Abraham,
unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God
Almighty; but by my name Jehovah was I not
known to them." And yet, in Genesis, the name of
Jehovah occurs, frequently, from the time of Adam
down. Critics have been greatly perplexed by this
fact ; and many theories have been proposed to ac
count for it. Some of these may be satisfactory
enough ; and yet, it seems to me that there is another
perhaps more satisfactory. I mean this : — that, ad
mitting that the name of Jehovah was known to the
patriarchs, they did not know the nature of God by
this name, for, the meaning of it was not particularly
revealed to them. They needed to know the power

244 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
of God more than his other attributes ; and therefore
he manifested himself unto them by the name of God
Almighty." In his covenant with Abraham, for in
stance, he said : — " I am the Almighty God : walk
before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my
covenant between me and thee, and will multiply
thee exceedingly." — " And I will make thee exceed
ing faithful, and I will make nations of thee, and
kings shall come out of thee." — "And I will give
unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land where
in thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an
everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
All this, as you perceive, addressed to a man nearly
a hundred years old, required special confidence in
the creative and proprietary omnipotence of him who
gave the promise, and therefore it was introduced by
the declaration, " I am the Almighty God." But,
now, to Moses, and to the Israelites in whole, it was
desirable, and not only desirable but necessary, that
there should be a more complete revelation of the
Divine nature — a revelation, not only of his natural
attributes, but more particularly, of his moral cha
racter. And this more complete revelation, as we
shall see, was granted, by making known, for the
first time, what the patriarchs had not known, the
meaning of the name Jehovah. They may have
known the name, but, if they did, that was all, or

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 245
nearly all. Its meaning was either not known or
very imperfectly known, until, as we shall see, it was
revealed unto Moses : and, through him, to Israel
and to the world, fully and forever.
Moses was oppressed by the responsibility of his
office as the Leader of Israel, and, having no trust but
in God, he was exceedingly anxious to know the pre
vailing dispositions, or moral principles of the Divine
Nature, in relation especially to such a sinful, ig
norant, rebellious set of people as these emancipated
slaves were. He seems to have feared that God would
abandon them, as utterly unworthy his further pro
tection and care, and so that the whole enterprise
should fail. He had seen proofs enough of the
strength of God's arm, but what was the controlling
feeling of his heart ? This was what he wanted to
know; and, therefore, when God had assured him
that he would not forsake them, Moses added this
one more prayer — "I beseech thee, show me thy
glory ; " or, as it has been rendered by some, " I be
seech thee, show me thy heart" — thine essential and
controlling nature. And the Lord said — "I will
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will
proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee ; and
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy." So, at
the appointed time and place, while Moses stood in

246 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
the cleft of the rock on Mount Sinai, Jehovah de
scended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and
proclaimed the name of Jehovah. And Jehovah
passed by before him, and proclaimed, JEHOVAH,
JEHOVAH God, merciful and gracious, long-suffer
ing, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and trans
gression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, and upon the children's children, unto the
third and to the fourth generation ! "
No wonder that when Moses heard this, he " made
haste, bowed his head toward the earth, and wor
shipped." He had been favored with the grandest
disclosure of the Divine character ever made ; and
under circumstances never to be forgotten. And, not
only as regarded previous history, but, also, for fifteen
hundred years afterward, or for more than four thou
sand years in all, this continued to be the grandest
proclamation of the nature of God. There can be
no doubt that it was intended to be the standard rep
resentation, for remembrance and reference, especially
among the Israelites, through all the ages of their
national existence. It was a kind ^of argument, or
plea, with which Jehovah purposely provided them
in advance, to encourage them to come to his throne,
and assure them that, notwithstanding their sins,

OVER ABL OPPOSITION. 247
they would always, as penitents, find it to be a throne
of Grace, a Mercy-Seat, where they might " obtain
mercy, and find grace to help " them, in every " time
of need." It was a revelation never surpassed until
the personal advent of Christ.
It has often been in my heart to trace the influence
of this Standard Proclamation of the meaning of the
name Jehovah, as manifest in the later books of
Scripture : for, in reading these books, I have often
met the indications of this influence. In the present
instance, particularly, I thought of doing this ; but,
having made the examinations necessary to such an
exhibition, I find that the illustrations are entirely
too numerous for such an occasion. A selection of
these, however, it may be desirable to notice.
I begin with Moses himself. No sooner was the
proclamation made, than he proceeded, with grateful
and humble boldness, to take advantage of it, in behalf
of the sinful tribes around him. Having bowed his
head and worshipped, he immediately offered this
prayer : " If now I have found grace in thy sight, O
Jehovah, let Jehovah, I pray thee, go among us ;
for it, (or this) is a stiff-necked people ; and pardon
our iniquity, and our sin, and take us for thine in
heritance." Again, in the 14th ch. of Numbers, Jehovah is
represented as about to destroy the Israelites, utterly,
22

248 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
for their great provocations ; and then Moses pleads
with him again on the same ground, saying : " If
thou — kill all this people as one man, then the na
tions which have heard the fame of thee will speak,
saying, Because Jehovah was not able to bring this
people into the land which he sware unto them, there
fore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now,
I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great,
according as thou hast spoken" — See! — "saying, Je
hovah is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving
iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing
the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people,
according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as
thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until
now. And Jehovah said, I have pardoned accord
ing to thy word : but, as truly as I live, all the earth
shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah." So, in
stead of instantly destroying them, he turned them
back into the wilderness, to pass their fives there, and
afford an opportunity to raise up a braver and hardier
generation. So when David brought up the ark, he
ordered Asaph and his brethren to sing : " O, give
thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good, and his mercy
endureth forever."
So, when Solomon dedicated the temple to the

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 249
worship and glory of Jehovah, he prayed, again and
again, that, as the name of Jehovah was to abide
there, whenever his people, however sinful, should
turn to him, and " confess his name," in time of war,
or of drought, or of famine, or of pestilence, or of far-
off captivity, and pray unto him, and make supplica
tion unto him, he would hear, and forgive, and forgive,
and still forgive, remembering his covenant with their
fathers, and cherishing them still as his chosen in
heritance. So, at the restoration of worship, under Nehe
miah, in connection with the second temple, the Le
vites, after confessing the transgressions of the nation,
added — " But, thou art a God ready to pardon, gra
cious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kind
ness." So, in the prayer of Daniel : — " O Lord, to us
belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes,
and to our fathers, because we have sinned against
thee" — but — "to the Lord, our god, belong mercies
and forgiveness." And again : " We do not present our
supplications before thee, for our righteousness, but,
for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear ; O Lord, for
give : O Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for thine
own sake, O my God, for thy city and thy people
are called by thy name" — that is, by the name of
Jehovah.

250 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
So, in the exhortation of Hosea — "O Israel, re
turn unto Jehovah, thy God; for thou hast fallen
by thine iniquity. Take with you words" — what
words but the old words of Sinai ? — " and turn unto
Jehovah, and say unto him, Take away all iniquity,
and receive us graciously."
So, also, in the prophecy of Joel — "Therefore
also now, saith Jehovah, Turn ye to me with all
your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and
with mourning; and rend your heart, and not your
garments, and turn unto Jehovah, your God : for —
he is gracious, and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."
So, likewise, in the prayer of Jonah — the impa
tient prophet, if I may so style him. And here I
may glance, in passing, at a strange mistake made by
one of the most learned and celebrated of modern
Biblical critics, in this connection. Looking at his
remarks on Jonah, especially in relation to Jonah's
anger, I was surprised to find it said : — " That God is
merciful to the penitent, wherever they are found, he
did not know." And yet the passage in his prayer,
which I was just about to cite, prov es plainly enough
that he did know all about it: — for — "He prayed
unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah,
was not this my saying, when I was yet in my coun
try ? Therefore I fled unto Tarshish : for I knew

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 251
that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to
anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of
the evil."
So, again, in Micah. "Who is a God like unto
thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the trans
gression of the remnant of his heritage ? he retaineth
not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy.
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon
us ; he will subdue our iniquities ; and thou wilt cast
all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt
perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abra
ham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from
the days of old."
In like manner I might refer to the Psalms —
many, many thrilling passages, but a very few will
be enough : —
Thus in the 86th — "Rejoice the soul of thy ser
vant ; for unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my
soul. For thou, Jehovah, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call
upon thee."
So in the 103d — "Jehovah made known his ways
unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
plenteous in mercy."
So in the 130th — " Let Israel hope in Jehovah :
for with Jehovah there is mercy, and with him is
22*

252 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel
from all his iniquities."
So in the 145th. — " Jehovah is gracious, and full
of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Jehovah is good to all, and his tender mercies are
over all his work."
As for the 136th Ps. — it both begins and ends with
thanksgiving for mercy — " O give thanks unto Je
hovah : for he is good ; for his mercy endureth for
ever." " O give thanks unto the God of heaven, for
his mercy endureth forever." And every one of its
twenty-six verses, closes with this glad refrain — " for
his mercy endureth forever."
It seems as if Christ, or Jehovah, on Sinai, were
speaking not only to Moses, or to Israel, but to the
whole world, his voice, of divinest music, sounding
down through all the ages — Jehovah, Jehovah
God.  PAET n.
And, what now ? To pass through all the Scrip
tural books, after the manner in which Genesis and
Exodus were noticed, is manifestly impracticable.
Two books, thus reviewed, on each occasion, would
require thirty-three sermons for the whole sixty-
six. The questions, in relation to each one, would
be — How did God magnify this book above all his

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 253
name? What special truth did he commit to this
portion of his word? And these would be very
interesting questions too, with very important an
swers : but, we have not time for them.
Instead of that course, I propose the following:
to remind you, as readers of the Scriptures, and in a
summary way, of these great facts — that God magni
fied those parts of his word which were extant in the
time of the Psalmist ; and afterward magnified the
later books of the Old Testament ; and finally mag
nified the books of the New Testament, also, thus
completing the whole canon of Scripture, by commit
ting to them certain Historical truth, and Doc
trinal truth, and Legal truth, and Covenant
truth, and Promissory and Prophetical truth, in
finitely transcending any thing elsewhere to be found
in nature or society.
First, as to the twelve books extant in the time Of
the Psalmist, and to which, of course, he alluded in
the text. Of these, we have already sufficiently no
ticed Genesis and Exodus.
Glance, then, at the Historical truth committed to
the others. From Moses to David was an interval
of some four hundred and fifty years. The history
of this period is found in these books. " Leviticus,"
indeed, is chiefly occupied with laws. "Numbers"
continues the history of the wanderings of the Desert :

254 THE triumph of the bible
bringing the Tribes from Sinai to the land of Moab,
and recording the transactions in the plains of Moab,
until the appointment of Joshua as the successor of
Moses, and the provision made for the partitioning
of the Promised Land, when its conquest should be
sufficiently completed. "Deuteronomy" repeats
the history of the four preceding books, and exalts
the whole idea of its importance. — Then, leaving the
five books of Moses, we come to that of " Joshua ;"
in which we find the history of the occupation of the
Promised Land, its division, and the ratification of
the Law at Ebal and Gerizim — with the last address
of Joshua to the people, his death and burial. Next
comes the book of " Judges," giving the history of
the Israelites in the interim from the death of
Joshua until the death of Samson, and near to the
time of Eli and Samuel ; with all the vicissitudes
of war and peace, conquest and captivity, under the
twelve or thirteen Judges, when there was no king
in Israel, and comparatively little authority was ex
ercised by any one : " every man," as it is written,
dbing " that which was right in his own eyes." Next
comes that beautiful little gem of the Old Testament
— that elegant and pathetic sketch of rural life — the
book of "Ruth" — with its important genealogy of
the house of David, Gentile as well as Jewish.
Next come the two books of " Samuel," chiefly de-

over all opposition. 255
voted to the reigns of Saul and David; and the
first book of " Chronicles," containing a sort of
genealogical and historical review, from the creation
to the commencement of the reign of Solomon. The
book of " Job," probably, finds its origin somewhere
during the production of the books already named;
and the " Psalms," in part, occupy the same interval.
These make twelve complete books, with a portion of
the thirteenth — including the text . " Job " and the
" Psalms," indeed, though comprising many historical
facts, are mainly poetical compositions. Whoever shall
reflect upon the historic range thus referred to, will
soon be convinced that the truth thus recorded, not-
"withstanding its connection with many things at first
sight of a merely national and transient character, is
elevated into extraordinary, superhuman, and even
Divine dignity, by its manifest close relation to the
whole plan and progress of the world's redemption.
It is this, which makes the great difference between
this and all other history — as we shall see more
clearly hereafter.
Glance, next, at the Doctrinal truth committed to
these books. Here, in addition to what has already
been said, of both God and man, it is necessary only
to refer to one grand point. I mean — the Mosaic
Creed. This creed consisted of only one article —
but that was infinitely sublime, all-comprehensive,

256 the triumph of the bible
and peculiarly distinctive — cutting off, at a stroke, in
design, though not in actual practice, all communion
of the Israelites, in religious matters at least, with
the idolatrous nations around them. I allude, of
course, to the proclamation made by Moses, to the
Chosen People, as recorded in the sixth chapter of
"Deuteronomy:" — "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord : " or, Hear, O Israel, Jehovah, our
God, is one Jehovah! — This was the foundation
doctrine of the Jewish Church — just as one other ar
ticle is the foundation doctrine of the Christian
Church : for it may be affirmed, with entire assur
ance of truth, that both these Churches are founded
on creeds, consisting each of only one article, and
that one is enough. How did God magnify His
word above all His name? by enshrining within it
forever the essential truth of the Unity of His Na
ture ! The untaught heathen collected the nation of
many gods from the diverse forms and forces of the
natural world ; and the Israelites might have done
the same. Indeed, they did frequently yield to this
notion, consenting to the idolatrous temptations and
enchantments about them. But the challenge to the
Chosen People was : Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord !— just as the challenge might now be
— Hear, O Christians ! Jesus is the Christ ; the Son
of the living God ! Therefore said our Saviour, for

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 257
this was all it was necessary to say — " Ye believe in
God, believe also in me." As Jews, ye believe in
God; now become Christians by believing in me.
Glance, next, at the Legal truth embodied in these
books. On a former occasion, we noticed the Moral
law ; but now it is in place to remember, also, the
Ceremonial and Civil laws. As to the Ceremonial law,
that related to the Tabernacle, with its Holy and
Most Holy Places, its Furniture, and Priesthood, and
Sacrifices, and Offerings, all of which were important
as preservatives against the false religions of the
heathen nations ; and, moreover, symbolical of better
things to come — the spiritual distinctions of the Gos
pel dispensation. By studying the Epistle to the
Hebrews, in connection with the book of Leviticus,
the spiritual significancy of the Mosaic ritual be
comes exceedingly plain and impressive. As to the
Civil law, that maintained the most intimate relations
to the Moral law, and seems, indeed, to have been de
signed to apply and enforce the Moral law, in all per
sonal, social, and national affairs. Its adaptations
were to a great extent local; and, of course, the
whole system, as a literal formulary, like the Cere
monial law associated with it, was intended only for
temporary prevalence. Still, this I presume may be
affirmed, without the slightest hesitancy, that, for the
time, there were no laws in the world, either Cere-

258 the triumph of the bible
monial or Civil, to compare with these for a moment.
Their wisdom was manifestly Divine.
Glance, also, at the Covenant truth recorded in
these books. This is a highly interesting contempla
tion. For instance, the two covenants with Adam —
first, the covenant of works, before the fall; and
secondly the covenant of Grace, after the fall. As to
the first, " The Lord God," as it is written, " took the
man, and put him into the Garden of Eden, to dress
it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded
the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it ; for in the
day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" — or —
" dying thou shalt die " — that is, beginning to die
thou shalt continue to die until the process of death
is complete. As to the second, the covenant of Grace,
that, of course, followed the fall, and is distinguished,
chiefly, by the assurance that the Seed of the Woman
should bruise the serpent's head — though with this is
connected the painful doom of woman, and the toil
some doom of man — both, though seemingly severe,
really gracious. Next comes the Covenant with
Noah — when the Lord said, in his heart : — " I will
not again curse the ground any more for man's sake ;
for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth : neither will I again smite any more every

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 259
living thing as I have done. While the earth re-
maineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat,
aud summer and winter, and day and night, shall not
cease." Then came the more extended and expressive
annunciation of it, with the appointment of the Rain
bow Seal of it, sanctioning and sustaining it, forever.
Next came the covenant with Abraham: as
suring him that his seed should be as numerous
as the stars of heaven, and the sands upon the sea
shore; that the land of Canaan should be given
to his descendants in the line of Isaac, for a pos
session ; and that in his seed all the nations of the
earth should be blessed. This, in various forms, but
the same in substance, was several times repeated, and
most solemnly confirmed. It was succeeded, also, by
similar covenants with Isaac and Jacob, personally,
and even with Judah, indirectly, in their day and
generation. Next came the great National Covenant with
Moses : set forth in the four last books of Moses, as
well, indeed, as in the Old Testament generally :
with all its sanctions, and all its rewards for the
obedient, and all its punishments for the disobedient.
Then, finally, so far as this present section of our
subject is concerned, came the covenant with David,
himself, the supposed author of the text. And, in
deed, it may be that the Psalmist has some reference,
23

260 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
in this Psalm, to this covenant: though it is more
plajjily alluded to elsewhere. In the 132d, for in
stance, it is said — " The Lord hath sworn in truth
unto David, he will not turn from it : Of the fruit
of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy
children will keep my covenant, and my testimony that
I shall teach them, their children also shall sit upon
thy throne, forevermore."
These covenants, as we may see more fully here
after, reaching, as they do, from Adam to Noah, and
from Noah to Abraham, and from Abraham to
Moses, and from Moses to David, are altogether
without parallel in any other history : and pre-emi
nently on this account, or for this reason, that they
are all connected with the incomparable work of the
world's redemption. They magnify the word of God
above all His name.
But, glance also at the Prophetic truth embodied
in these books. The strength of this point is to be
developed in another connection : but, even here, in
view of the books extant in the time of David, it
may be affirmed that God had wonderfully magnified
His name by the prophetic truth entrusted to them.
The Prophets predicted many things in relation to
prominent persons, both of their own and of other
times and countries ; and, in like manner, they fore
told the destinies of foreign nations, both near and

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 261
remote — especially of those most adjacent to their own
land, or most frequently brought in contact with their
own people. But, as it was with the miracles of
Christ, during his ministry on earth — miracles not
constituting the object of His mission, but being
merely incidental to His progress as He passed on
toward the Cross, and the One Great Purpose of His
Coming, the making of an atonement for the sins of
the world by His sufferings and death : so with the
Prophets — their predictions in relation to mere men,
and their transient kingdoms, were only the incidents
of their course — illustrations of the reality and power
of their Divine inspiration, rather than the fulfilment
of the One Grand and Distinctive Object of their
Office. That Object was — to bear their testimony to
the coming of Christ — to foreshow the advent and
work of the Son of God and Saviour of the world.
Therefore, it is written — that "the testimony of
Christ is the spirit of prophecy ; " and again, that
" to Him give all the prophets witness." Of course,
even before David's time, as well as in his time, and,
indeed, in part, by his own agency, as one of the
prophets, Christ was foretold. The coming of Christ,
indeed, was already the great burden of prophecy,
and had been from the beginning of the world. The
Patriarchal dispensation, as well as the Mosaic,
was full of types of Christ, and promises of Christ.

262 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
Histories, Doctrines, Laws and Covenants, all had
prophetic relations to Him. But, specific declarations
were not wanting : some of them, indeed, not made
by the prophets, but by the Lord himself. So to the
Serpent — " He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his " heel." So to Abraham : " In thy Seed,
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; because
thou hast obeyed my voice." In other cases, human
agents gave the utterance: So with Jacob, just before
his death : — " The Sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come ; and to Him shall the gathering of the
people be." So with Moses — not long before his
death — " The Lord said unto me, — I will raise them
up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he
shall speak unto them all that I shall command
him." So with David himself — or, rather, with
the writer of the 2d Psalm, whoever he was — " Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." And
so with the 110th Psalm, which is ascribed to David,
even by our Saviour himself: "The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool." Such passages, taken
together, and in their connection with the whole sys
tem of typical sacrifice and worship, were even then
significant of the promised Redeemer.

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 263
But now, see ! This is the way our argument runs
— accumulating strength as it passes from point to
point. If, in review of the Historical truth, and
Doctrinal truth, and Legal truth, and Covenant
truth, and Prophetical truth, all connected with
the great scheme of Redemption ; and all found in
the twelve or thirteen books supposed to be extant in
the time of our Psalmist, the author of the text, it
was true and right to affirm, so solemnly and de
cisively, "Thou hast magnified thy word above all
thy name : " what shall be said, in view of the fact,
that, after this time, twenty-six other books were
added to the canon of the Old Testament, and that,
to all of them, God committed further revelations of
truth, richer and richer, brighter and brighter, illum
inating with surpassing splendor the centuries herald
ing the advent of His Son.
See ! Of these twenty-six additional books, six are
Historical — viz : 1st and 2d Kings : 2d Chroni
cles: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther: three are
Poetical — Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song
of Solomon : and seventeen are Prophetical — in
cluding the Major prophets from Isaiah to Daniel,
and the Minor prophets, from Hosea to Malachi.
And what now? Who can think of this varied,
beautiful, and sublime range of inspiration, even for
a moment, without being overpowered by the remem-
23*

264 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
brance of the grandeur of the truth committed to
these books, and of the glorious manner in which
God has thus magnified his word above all his name!
Why the one book of Isaiah alone, would furnish
themes for the eloquent and joyful expatiation of an
angel for a thousand years. And then — to think of
Daniel's succession of human kingdoms, and ulti
mate establishment of the Kingdom of God! But,
there is no time to dwell on any of these topics.
Still the cumulative argument advances : for, if
God so wonderfully magnified his word above all his
name, by committing such truth as that to which I
have alluded to the books of the Old Testament;
then, again, what shall be said in regard to the fact,
that, after this time also, — i.e., some four centuries
later, twenty-seven other books, constituting the whole
of the New Testament, were added to the Old — so
completing the entire canon of Sacred Scripture. And,
such books! Not occupied by types and shadows,
rites and ceremonies, brief promises and prophecies
sometimes mystical or vague; not telling over and
over again, from age to age, the old story, and
the old hope, that the time was coming, when the
Divine Redeemer, first declared in Eden, and after
ward waited for through thousands of slow-rolling
years, should actually and personally come : but, an
nouncing, once and forever, the good news, the glad

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 265
tidings, the transcendent and omnipotent verity, that
He has come ! the four great witnesses, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John, turning toward the four
quarters of the world, and, like the North wind, and
the South wind, and the East wind, and the West
wind, with all their gales and thunders blowing their
angel trumpets, as though just handed down to them
from the throne of God, startling the poles and shak
ing the equator with the indubitable demonstrations
of the visible, audible, palpable presence, and minis
try, wisdom and power, grace and glory, of the Only-
Begotten and Dearly Beloved Son of the Highest ;
Eve's Comfort, Abraham's Seed, Jacob's Shiloh,
David's Heir, Isaiah's Prince of Peace, Jeremiah's
Lord our Righteousness, and Haggai's Desire of all
Nations, the One Peerless Object of the Whole
World's Hope — working miracles, preaching and
teaching, eating and drinking; sleeping and waking,
journeying and resting, humbling Himself to the
lowest, forgiving the vilest, cherishing the poorest,
exalting the most abased, and passing steadily on to
the grand consummation, for which he left the Bosom
of His Father and the Palace of the Universe, even
to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Cross of Cal
vary, and the Tomb of the Arimathean, and the
Summit of Olivet, that He might agonize for us, and
die for us, and be buried for us, and rise again for us,

266 the triumph of the bible
and ascend to heaven for us, and take His place
at the right hand of the Father again for us, " ever
living to make intercession for us," and so promote
our final, and perfect, and everlasting triumph, over
all our adversaries, and over all our adversities, in
the inheritance of the blissful kingdom that shall
never pass away. Eighteen hundred years have
gone by, and still there is no music in any wind of
heaven, like the music of the Gospel of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. And not only do Matthew,
and Mark, and Luke, and John, rehearse this
music still, but Paul, and Peter, and James, and
Jude, take part with them, and the whole
" Sacramental host of God's elect,"
Ministers and people, men, women, and children, the
possessors of the fruits of the oldest Civilizations in
the World, and the New Tribes, just converted from
the abominations of the most degraded barbarism, and
cleansed and clothed, and adorned, and sanctified, and
saved, and made instruments of salvation to others,
by the agency of the Spirit and Truth of Jehovah,
unite in the hosannas and hallelujahs that hail, and
welcome, and bless, and celebrate, and in every way
magnify the first advent of the Mediator ; and, also,
still further unite in the waiting, and watching, and
wishing, and praying, for His second advent — the
Only Hope now left to our poor, deceived, disap-

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 267
pointed, and almost ruined and despairing world —
evermore responding to His own most gracious as
surance — " Behold ! I come quickly ! " — with the
ready, and instant, and common, and happy acclaim,
" Even so — Come, Lord Jesus ! "
"Come, then, and added to Thy many crowns,
Receive one more, the crown of all the earth,
Thou who alone art worthy." — So shall it be —
" One song employ all nations, and all cry,
Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain for us !
The dwellers in the vales, and on the rocks,
Shout to each other, and the mountain tops,
From distant mountains, catch the flying joy,
Till, nation after nation taught the strain,
Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round 1 "
And what now ? If it be true, that God has tnus
magnified his word above all his name during the
last three thousand years, and does so magnify it at
this very moment ; is there not an irresistible logic
in the inference that He will continue to magnify it
even unto the end? — not now, indeed, by adding
other books to the sixty-six already in existence, but,
in causing these, just as they stand, to triumph over
all opposition?
What does He himself say, in regard to this ? I
wish I had time to answer fully — but, without time
for this, I must nevertheless give some answer.
What does God say of Himself? Hark!— "The

268 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
Lord said to Moses, I am that I am." Again, in
various places : " Beside me, there is no God, I know
not any." " Before me, there was no God formed."
" I am God, there is no God with me." Therefore,
the precept against idolatry — " Thou shalt know no
God but me." It is the consciousness of Divine All-
ness, of Infinite Comprehensiveness and Exclusive-
ness, that thus speaks out of its own Essential and
Eternal Solitude. Can any man believe that there
is any other God than this God ; or that any kind of
opposition can ever make Him less than God, or pre
vent the fulfilment of His designs as God? As sure
as He is God, must He not triumph over all oppo
sition ?
Of His character as King, it is said: — "The
Lord is King, forever and ever." So in many other
passages. Of His Throne, in like manner, it is said : — " Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever." So in other
passages. Of His Beign, it is said : " The Lord shall reign,
forever and ever." So in other passages.
Of His Kingdom it is said : — " Thy kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth
throughout all generations." So in other passages.
So, in particular, of His Truth it is said — " His
truth endureth to all generations." And again : "The

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 269

tridh of the Lord endureth forever." And asain :
" Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his
help, whose hope is in the Lord his God; which
made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein
is; which keepeth truth forever." — And so, in other
passages. So, still more particularly, of His Word, as the
embodiment of His truth. " The voice said, Cry. And
he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and
all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth," "but — the
word of our God shall stand forever." And so, again,
"Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven."
And again, "Thy word is true from the beginning,
and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth
forever." So in other passages.
So, still more particularly, of His law — as one
from His word. "Think not" — said our Saviour
Himself — " that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For, verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from
the law, till all be fulfilled."
So, of His covenants — as constituting another form
of His word. For instance, in that with Noah, the
Lord said — "And the bow shall be in the cloud ; and
I will look upon it, that I may remember the ever-

270 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
lasting covenant between God and every living crea
ture of all flesh that is upon the earth." As long as
you see the Rainbow no fear of this covenant. So
with the Abrahamic covenant : " God said, Sarah
thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed ; and thou shalt
call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his
seed after him." As long as you see a Jew, no fear
of this. So with the Covenant with David. " My
covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that
is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my
holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed
shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before
me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and
as a faithful witness in heaven." As long as Psalms
are read and sung, no fear of this. Jeremiah seems to
allude to this, when he says, — " Thus saith the Lord,
If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my
covenant of the night, and that there should not be
day and night in their season, then may also my cov
enant be broken with David my servant, that he
should not have a son to reign upon his throne." As
long as you see day and night, no fear of this. So with
Isaiah, looking more plainly forward to the Chris
tian Dispensation, and the ingathering of the Gen
tiles under it — " Incline your ear and come unto me,
hear and your soul shall live ; and I will make an

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 271
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. Behold, I have given him " (or his
Greater Seed) " for a witness to the people, a leader
and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt
call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that
knew not thee shall run unto thee; because of the
Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel ; for
he hath glorified thee." As long as missions prosper,
no fear of this. And so, once more, of the New cov
enant, as announced in that beautiful benediction, at
the close of the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Now
the God of peace, that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the Sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you
perfect in every good work to do his will, working in
you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen." As long as the blood of Christ is better
than that of Abel, and of the Law, no fear of this.
In like manner, I might speak again of the
Prophecies — as another form of His word. For in
stance, when the Israelites doubted the Divine
promise in the wilderness, "The Lord said unto
Moses, Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou shalt
see now, whether my word shall come to pass unto
thee or not." And, of course, it did come to pass. —
So, even in the mouth of Balaam, the Lord put
24

272 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
the message to Balak — " God is not a man that he
should lie; neither the son of man that he should
repent ; hath he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath
he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" — So,
when Solomon blessed the people, at the dedication
of the temple, he lifted up his voice, and added —
" Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his
people Israel, according to all that he promised : there
hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which
he promised by the hand of Moses his servant." —
So, but more generally, said our Saviour — "The
Scriptures must be fulfilled." And again: — "All
things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the
Psalms, concerning me." And again — " The Scrip
ture cannot be broken." And again — for His own
words in particular — " Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away ; " and all
are His words. As long as heaven and earth stand,
there need be no fear of this.
And what now ? Is not all— forever ? Certainly,
according to its own testimony, the Bible is all forever!
Its History is history forever: its Doctrine is doctrine
forever : its Law is law forever : its Covenants are
covenants forever : and its Promises and Prophecies
are Promises and Prophecies forever. Is- there any
other Book with such Becords as these ? -or with such

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 273
Claims as these? Is there even a pretence to any
thing of the kind, in all the world ? Surely, God
has magnified His word above all His name !
But, what does the Word itself say, in relation to
its triumph over all opposition ? its final and perpetual
success ? I wish I could tell you a hundredth part of
what it says ! But, is it not in your own hands ? Is
it not open before your own eyes ? Does it not con
stantly appeal to your own mind, and heart, and
conscience ?
Hark ! — the Voice and Harp of the Sweet Singer
of Israel : — " All the ends of the world shall remem
ber and turn unto the Lord ; and all the kindreds of
the nations shall worship before thee. For the king
dom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the
nations ! " And again — " O let the nations be glad
and sing for joy, for thou shalt judge the people
righteously, and govern the nations upon earth ! Let
the people praise thee, O Lord : yea, let all the peo
ple praise thee ! " And again : " Blessed be the Lord
God, the God of Israel ; who only doeth wondrous
things. And blessed be his glorious name forever :
and let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen." The prayers of David, the son of
Jesse, are ended. — Beautiful ending : like that of the
Prophet of the Apocalypse — " Even so : Come, Lord
Jesus!"

274 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
But, hearken — to the Silver Trumpet of Isaiah,
also. " The earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" — or, rather, as
they cover the deep — the great and mighty deep —
with all its profound plateaus, and profounder ravines,
deeper and still deeper, but little by little, covered
over, filled in, and smoothly filled up, and then
rolled into tide-waves, blown into billows, and cast
like a world-full of breakers on a thousand rock-
bound shores. So, the knowledge of the Lord shall
fill up, and overflow the earth.
Hearken also to the glad response of Zechariah
— " The Lord shall be king over all the earth : in
that day, shall there be one Lord, and his name
One." Hearken to Habakkuk, also, in the same words
as Isaiah — " For the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters
cover the sea."

PAET in.
But, what is the present state of this opposition ?
So long a time has elapsed since the preceding ser
mons were prepared, and so much delay has occurred
in their appearance, that, notwithstanding the best
recent revision which has been given them, I am

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 275
anxious, in this new composition, completing the
series, to conduct the record of facts as near as prac
ticable to this date (1864), that it may be more ex
actly evident what hostilities are yet to be met, and
what may be expected in the process of Bible con
quests. First, therefore, I invite attention to the following
condensed classified survey of the greater part of the
world — a careful abstract from the latest Reports
of the British and Foreign, and American, Bible
Societies. I. PRESENT STATE OF PAGAN OPPOSITION.
1. China. Opposition to the Bible, in that great
empire, is modified by the Civil War, and the com
plications of the government with foreign nations.
Christianity finds freer access than formerly. Still,
allusions are made to the — "stiff and ignorant preju
dices of those in authority" — to the "contempt and
scorn " of the learned men — and to the " extreme in
difference" of the people. It is said, that — " the
Atheism, the Materialism, the Apathy of the Chinese
mind in regard to religion, coupled with its intense
ignorance, peculiar exclusiveness, and Satanic preju
dices on the subject, are more and more felt to be
terrible difficulties in the way of our success. They
are all in active exercise on every side, and are the
24*

276 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
better understood the closer we come in contact with
them." The colporteurs are represented as "exposed
to the full brunt of argument, ridicule and scorn, at
the hands of those they meet." In some cases, the
Book is abused or destroyed, its distributors arrested
by jealous officials, and the few disciples subjected to
severe persecution. Notwithstanding such facts, how
ever, the Agents report various encouragements, and
seem to be cheerful in prospect of favorable changes.
2. Japan. Here the opposition is described thus :
" The jealousy of the Japanese is on the alert in
reference to efforts for the introduction of Chris
tianity ; and as the Missionaries are confined by the
authorities within very narrow limits, the opportuni
ties of circulating even the Chinese Scriptures, which
can be read by the better educated classes, are com
paratively few. Efforts to disseminate the Scriptures
in Japanese would, it is feared, call forth decidedly
hostile action on the part of the government." When
the Japanese Ambassadors were in Washington, it
was proposed to supply them with the Scriptures —
but the gift was declined. It seems that, more re
cently, while the Ambassadors were in England, the
British and Foreign Bible Society made a similar
effort, and with the same result. " Three copies of
the Chinese Bible were specially prepared for pres
entation" to them, and "transmitted to their Excel-

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 277
lencies, accompanied by a suitable address on behalf
of the Society. Immediately, however, before they
quitted England, the copies were sent back, with po
lite acknowledgments, and the intimation that the re
tention of the gift might involve these functionaries
in a misunderstanding with the Government on their
return to Japan."
3. India. There, opposition is indicated by refer
ence to — "prejudice, stern and bitter" — to "fatalism
and infidel philosophy," as abounding, and enchain
ing " The intellect of multitudes" — and, to " the po
tency of caste," as presenting " a formidable barrier
against the reception of the humbling doctrines of
the Cross." Allusion is made, also, to "heathen
vices," to "ignorance, superstition, ancestral cus
toms " and " pharisaic pride." There too the Colpor
teurs occasionally meet " violent" repulsions, and are
"laughed at as engaged in a hopeless enterprise."
New converts have to endure "household" persecu
tion, holiness and humility are assailed with " hatred
and scorn," and "pantheistic theories and diabolical
idolatries" are wielded against the Word of God.
4. Other Sections. In Malaysia, the majority
are said to be " sunk in ignorance and wretchedness."
In Australia, the reports refer to the Colonists rather
than the natives. In New Zealand, the War is a
difficulty. In the South Seas, at Tauna and Error-

278 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
manga, the savages are in arms against the Mission
aries. In the Mauritius' the Brahmins are trying to
"check the spread of Divine truth" by temples and
schools of idolatry. In Madagascar, the terrible
persecutions were closed by the advent of the new king
— though much slumbering or suppressed heathen
hatred is supposed to exist still. In South Africa,
the "unhappy effects" of Bishop Colenso's move
ments are noticed — " the recent notorious attempt to
invalidate the historical truth of the Pentateuch, and
so to shake all faith in Divine Revelation." And so
the sketches of Paganism are concluded. Let us
turn, therefore, to : —
II. THE PRESENT STATE OF MOHAMMEDAN
OPPOSITION.
" The work among the Mohammedans is not with
out interest, even in these days of severe animadver
sion and criticism from some of the highest officials
of the Government." " The cause has to contend with
differences of faith, nationality, and language, as well
as with the Oriental custom of female seclusion, which
renders access to the family circle almost impossible."
In Algiers, the authorities forbade the circulation of
the Bible, and "put its Colporteur on a level with
criminals;" but, afterward, the circulation was al
lowed, except of copies in the Arabic language. So

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 279
some generosity was assumed, while the False Sys
tem remained well guarded. " Bigotry and fanati
cism" are represented as "characteristic of Moham
medans;" with "intense prejudices — against the Gos
pel." In the "interior parts of Arabia," especially,
"Mohammedan fanaticism runs high." An Agent
was desirous of venturing to " Mekka, itself; but he
was prevented doing so by the British Consul, who,
in explanation, assured him that certain death would
await him, if he entered the ' holy city of the Mo
hammedans ' as a Christian." Arabia, indeed, is
described, as " that country of the world, which, all
things considered, is probably least accessible to a
Christian agency." From these partial glimpses, of
Mohammedanism let us now pass to : —
TTT. THE PRESENT STATE OF JEWISH OPPOSITION.
Here, however, there is a lack of material. Occa
sionally, a case is mentioned, like that in which a
dying Jew forced his daughter to " promise never to
enter upon any conversation, or read any book, relating
to Jesus." But, strange to say, the Jewish cases, in
most instances, are those of submission rather than
of opposition. Indeed, it is not in Paganism, Mo
hammedanism, or Judaism, separately or jointly, that
the chief opposition to the Bible is found, but, within
the limits of nominal Christianity. We must pro-

280 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
ceed, therefore, to such notices as occur of opposition
by the Greek and other Oriental Churches ; by the
Roman Catholic Church ; by the States with which
these Churches are connected, and which, in this rela
tion, they seem to control ; and, finally, by certain
forms of Protestantism itself.
IV. THE PRESENT STATE OF NOMINALLY CHRISTIAN
OPPOSITION.
In the Armenian districts of Asia Minor, " great
opposition" has been met, with "threats to kill" the
Bible readers, and "terrible persecution" only falling
short of murder: though some improvement begins
to appear. In Egypt, " the great stumbling-block in
the way of doing good" — even to the Mohammedans
— " is the Coptic Church ; " the members of which
have not " the means, at present, of knowing what
true Christianity is." In Eastern Turkey, allusion
is made to the " thick darkness which for so many
centuries has been brooding over (the) land." Among
the Armenians, " the universal inability to read is a
serious obstacle." "The ignorance and mercenary
character of the Ecclesiastics is another serious ob
stacle. A priest who was "questioned as to his
knowledge of the Scriptures, could not tell a single
command of the Decalogue." "The most trying
hinderance to the introduction of the Bible is found

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 281
in the opposition of the priesthood. In one case, a
vartebad (or monk) sought an opportunity to assassin
ate a Bible distributor." In Georgia, also, the con
verted Armenians are greatly persecuted by the Old
Orthodox Church.
The Greek Church, as so much mightier, is al
luded to more frequently. In Russia, the inability
to read, among the serfs, is still a difficulty — though
emancipation is likely to be followed by education.
In the Southern Provinces, Government restrictions
are in the way. " Prevailing distress and religious
apathy," also, are impediments. In Bulgaria, the
ignorance of priests and people is the great obstacle.
In Greece, the "superstition — bigotry — abuses and
errors" of the establishment are referred to. In the
island of Crete (or Candia), the Metropolitan would
not allow the school-teachers even to accept the Scrip
tures as a gift. The hostility of the Patriarch of
Constantinople, joined to that of the Metropolitan, is
represented as very injurious ; more than counter
balancing the liberal policy of the Government — the
State, in such cases, being manifestly overruled by
the Church. In Servia, and especially at Belgrade,
the Greek archbishop, and others like him, are re
ported as having " endeavored to crush the opera
tions" of the Society.
But, after all, as would be expected, the chief

282 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
opponent, everywhere, is the Roman Catholic Church.
Even in our own country this is evident — though the
reports are very defective. In Michigan, for instance,
of 251 Romanist families visited, only 56 had courage
to receive the Bible. In Minnesota, the priests re
fuse the privilege of reading it, and will not hear
confessions of those who do read it. In Rhode
Island, of 1754 destitute families, more than 1100,
as Romanists, declined the Bible. In our army, the
prohibition of the priests is a restraint upon the
Catholic soldiers. In Mexico, Bible circulation has
been stopped by the war with the French. There,
however, it has been " always resisted — by the domi
nant influence of the Romish priesthood, which holds
the people in abject bondage." In Brazil, the arch
bishop suspended the sale — though it was afterward
resumed. In South America generally, allusion is
made to the "sad degradation" consequent on "the
rankest superstitions of Rome" — the "dark systems
of error which have so long crushed the energies and
demoralized the population of one of the finest regions
in the world." In Buenos Ayres, "Popish fanati
cism" is said to be less " rampant" — than in the other
Republics of South America. Chili is described as
having "an intensely Popish character." In New
Granada, mention is made of "the supremacy of
Jesuitical intrigues." In the West Indies, the chief

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 283
difficulties arise from ignorance and poverty, with oc
casional Romish interference. In Dominica, the Ro
mish Prelate has " publicly denounced the action " of
the Bible Society. Coming North again, in Canada
we read of " the cruel tyranny of the Romish Priest
hood, who are determined, if it can be done, that the
Bible shall have no currency amongst the members
of their flocks, and are ceaseless in their inquiries to
ascertain where the Scriptures have been received."
" Striking facts are mentioned, showing the wretched
spiritual thraldom in which the people are held, and
the dread entertained of priestly anathema." A Col
porteur states that " the Cur6 tells the people they will
be lost if they read (the books), and that it is not
right even to touch them. Accordingly the Cure'
tries to burn or to destroy'the Scriptures." In some
cases, they have been seized and burnt. Crossing the
Atlantic, we find such statements as the following.
In France, " the Bible is branded (by the Romish
Priesthood) as the symbol of anarchy and misfortune,
and the offer of it through the agency (of the Bible
Society) has been resolutely declined by those who
are taught that the admission of it into their dwell
ings would be a fruitful source of misery, and entail
upon them the dreaded anathema of the Church."
" The blind partisans of the temporal power of the
Papacy — have represented to those who will still lis-
25

284 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
ten to them, that those falsified Bibles and Testa
ments, as they are pleased to designate our copies of
the Scriptures, are circulated with no other object
than to dethrone the Holy Father, and with him to
destroy the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion ; that
those so-called Bible Colporteurs are nothing better
than the Socialists, without faith and without law,
who are in the pay of foreign Protestant nations, and
with whom, in view of the Government of France,
it is most perilous to enter into connection." So
strong is this opposition, especially as added to the
commercial distress, that, in certain parts of the
country, the prosecution of the Bible work has been
rendered absolutely impossible. There is a Protest
ant Bible Society in Paris, authorized by the Govern
ment, but only on condition that it should not operate
among Roman Catholics ! Another Society, independ
ent of the Government, is in existence, but too weak
to do much. In one of the Northern Departments,
a Cure bought up and collected all the copies he could
get, and burned them in a large fire. In Belgium,
which is described as "one of the most intensely
Popish and bigoted lands of the Continent," the Ro
mish opposition appears to be still greater. It is
styled " active and persevering hostility." — In some
of the provinces, the priests threaten those who have
purchased a Testament, and do not burn it, with not

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 285
being allowed to confess, and with " eternal damnation."
In some cases, they " go from house to house to take
away the Testaments." One Colporteur says — " I do
not think there is in Europe a country so full of
darkness, and where the clergy have such power." —
Even in Holland, in some districts where Romanists
reside, they oppose the "diffusion of the Scriptures,"
and resort to acts of cruelty as the most summary
method of carrying out their designs— stoning the
Colporteurs — cursing and scoffing at them — denying
them accommodations — threatening to kill them. In
Volkenburg, it is said, "the priests are continually
visiting the houses in search of our books ; if they
find any they take them away and burn them." In
Germany, again, we find "the priests denouncing the
books, and warning the people against buying them :"
occasionally buying them up, themselves, and burn
ing them. In Austria, especially, the opposition,
even on the part of the Government, continues unre
lenting. There, is another instance of the Church
overruling the State — Civil opposition prompted by
Ecclesiastical. It is reported that "every effort to
induce the Government formally to allow the intro
duction of the Bible has had no effect." The Agent
" has repeatedly visited Vienna, and had interviews
with official persons," but, " it would seem as if the
Bible must be as rigorously shut out of Austria as

286 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
ever." Even the privilege of distribution among
the Protestants of the empire is withheld : " a cruel
wrong," as it is justly styled. In 1861, the Govern
ment issued a decree promising better things ; but it
appears that the Church has restrained the Govern
ment. The question is very properly asked : " Is
the Government not strong enough to carry out its
own plans ; is it obliged to bend to the dictates of a
hierarchy which has always opposed the dissemination
of the Scriptures ? " In Spain and Portugal, matters
are still worse. Of the former, the Report says :
" Spain, ever the abject vassal ofthe Papacy, still re
tains her intense aversion to the Bible and Protest
antism, and will relax none of the penal restrictions
which forbid the circulation of the Scriptures amongst
her subjects. The indignant protest which has been
uttered by Protestant Europe, against the atrocities
perpetrated of late by Spain, in the dishonored name
of religion, has had no effect in mitigating the relent
less cruelty with which the Government persecutes
the noble men, who will brave loss of liberty rather
than abjure the Bible." The Report well stigmatises
the whole process as " a revival of the old spirit of
the Inquisition, which revelled in cruelties and hor
rors, the recollection of which makes the boldest
heart shudder." For the present, therefore, Bible
operations in Spain " are impracticable." It is added :

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 287
" Indeed — there is reason to believe that a more rig
orous surveillance than ever is practiced to shut out
the Scriptures, and that a Secret Society has been
formed amongst the most bigoted Romanists, with a
view of aiding the police in detecting those who are
suspected of leanings toward Protestantism." So
much for Spain. That is another State overruled by
the Church. So, if possible, Rome would overrule
all States. As to Portugal, that is represented as
"likewise closed against the entrance ofthe Bible" —
bnt, still, as in a more hopeful condition than Spain.
In Italy it is observed that there " are retarding
causes still operating with prodigious force, in many
parts, which cannot fail to have an adverse influence
on the circulation of the Scriptures. In some dis
tricts, the power of the priests is supreme, and the
people are held in a state of profound and abject sub
mission to the ecclesiastical despotism which has so
long ruled with irresistible sway. The dread of
priestly power and anathema deters many a timid
spirit from any attempt to burst the shackles, which
Popery ever seeks to impose upon its deluded vic
tims ; and the fear of the consequences which might
result from reading the Scriptures, on the fact be
coming known to the priest, often leads to a rejection
of the Sacred Volume even when there is a strong
desire to possess it." Ignorance also is a great diffi-
25*

288 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
culty. Large masses, in both town and country, are
unable even to read. Political excitement, also, is an
obstacle ; and likely to continue so at least, until the
city of Rome be secured as the capital of the King
dom. In Milan, Genoa, Florence, Bologna and
Naples, the opposition of the priests is mentioned.
Bologna, in particular, is described as " one of the
strongholds of the Papacy, where priestly influence
has long been in the ascendant. Every effort to
spread the truth here has encountered fierce hostility."
In Sicily, it is said the majority of the people " are
too blindly attached to Romish superstition to give
much heed to the teachings of the Bible." Proceed
ing to Malta, the same adversary appears again.
" The strict surveillance exercised by the priests has
a tendency to check any effort on the part of the peo
ple to obtain possession of the Scriptures." This
influence follows them abroad. At Tunis, on the
African coast, it is said of the Maltese, that "they
spend their days in the most profound ignorance,
manifest the same blind and servile submission to
their spiritual guides, and are as difficult to be ap
proached by Protestant truth as when in their native
island of Malta." In Turkey, we meet again the
open opposition of the Roman Clergy. And now,
sweeping away with the Reports to the South Seas,
We find in the Georgia Islands " the seductive influ-

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 289
ences and the superstitious charms of Popish error —
seeking to plant its standard on the spots where pure
Christianity has achieved such glorious triumphs."
In the Fiji Islands, also, we are told that " Popery is
making special efforts among these people, and it
gains a few converts from us, but mainly such as are
noted for being troublesome ; and some from heathen
ism, in various parts of this extensive group of is
lands." In the Mauritius, also, the Romanists are
active ; and in Madagascar it is said that " unscrupu
lous intrigues " have been used, though vainly, to in
fluence the king "in favor of Popery;" while other
efforts have been made "to foster the suspicion in the
minds of the people, that the Protestant Missionaries
are giving them a mutilated and imperfect Bible,"
well knowing that the entire Scriptures, if placed in
their hands, would demonstrate the Divine authority
of the Papacy. In West Africa, also, particularly
at Fernando Po, the Protestant Missionary has been
excluded by the intolerance of the Spanish Govern
ment ; there, as at home, the mere tool of the priests.
So much for Romanism. If it had been the main
object of the Reports to illustrate the range of this
opposition, doubtless they would have multiplied in
stances in connexion with all parts of the globe — Pa
gan, Mohammedan, Jewish and Christian, and every
point of contact within every part. Popery and the

290 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
Bible are the same everywhere, and must contend
until one shall conquer. Even in the island of Cey
lon, where violent heathen opposition is now rarely
encountered, it is said — "Whenever hostility is ex
perienced, it is manifested by the priests and ad
herents of the Church of Rome, who seek to preju
dice the minds of the people against the reception
and reading of the Word of God." So in China,
" the Romish Propaganda is seeking to establish its
mission on a scale of imposing grandeur, and is set
ting up claims which, if admitted, will invest it with
large resources and extended influence." As a Pro
testant superintendent of Colportage remarks : " The
spread of Roman Catholic dogmas is perplexing the
minds of many, without satisfying them." It is
stated, that, " to the present time, no Protestant Mis
sionary has been permitted to reside at the Capital
(Pekin), with a view to the active prosecution of his
Christian labors, amongst the teeming population.
In this respect, an obvious advantage has been secured
by the Roman Catholic priests, who are freely toler
ated in their work, by express stipulations, contracted
through the Representative of the French Govern
ment." See that, again !
But, what is to be said ofthe Protestant Churches?
In our former review of Ecclesiastical Opposition,
these Churches were found to be somewhat inconsist-

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 291
ently involved. Are there any traces in the Reports
of such opposition now ? Not many. Had it been
the object of the Reporters to ascertain more, doubt
less they might have done it. In Germany, it ap
pears, — " considerable opposition has arisen of late on
account of the omission of the Apocrypha" — so re
tarding the sales. On this account, also, some of the
German Bible Societies have ceased from " intimate
co-operation" with the British and Foreign Bible
Society. So in Holland, " the opposition thrown in
the way by superstition" is noticed. By the State-
Church party, or the Rationalists connected with it,
the Bible Society is "violently opposed;" its work
being regarded as a wanton outrage against the Sov
ereign authority of the Church. The Schools, " sus
tained by the Government — deny all entrance to the
Bible, and abjure the religious element in the educa
tion that is imparted." In Norway, allusion is made
to " the enemies of the great and precious truth, that
Jesus alone is our righteousness : " enemies who
would rejoice in the discontinuance of Bible distri
bution. In England, itself, references are made to
certain "vexatious controversies" and "ecclesiastical
discussions," which it was feared would " seriously
interfere" with the work, but which appear to have
passed so far without doing much harm. Such, only,
are the current allusions to anything in the way of

292 THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE
Protestant opposition to the Bible. As already in
timated, much more than this might be said.
Other forms of opposition, or obstruction, are occa
sionally introduced; as ignorance, inability to read,
poverty, infidelity, &c. But, as the most of these
have already incidentally been mentioned, it is enough
to add a few words here in relation to the last — infi
delity. The American Report refers to some of our
own States, in which both the old skepticisms and
the new form of spiritualism are frequently met. In
Michigan, it Ls said that "the Bible is gaining
largely upon skepticism." Still, there is much hos
tility. Those who were most violent against the
Bible called themselves spiritualists. One man
"burned his wife's Bible;" another "refused to let
his dying wife have the Bible in her possession." It
is said that " at New Ulm — in Brown County — Min
nesota : practical atheism characterized the people ;
and it has pleased God, by the hands of savages, to
blot out that place as thoroughly as He did Sodom
and Gomorrah." Leaving our own country again, we
observe, in Holland, " the increased spirit of infi
delity, which prevails throughout the country : " the
fact that "the mission of the Bible — is by many
rudely and ignorantly scoffed at, as an impotent cru
sade against the increasing enlightenment of a philo
sophic age ; " and the statement that " the spirit of

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 293
infidelity is still in the ascendant, and spreading its
blight over the professed Protestant Church." In
Germany, in one case, the Colporteur was told : " The
man who believes the Bible is two centuries behind
the age." In another, — " the Bible was pronounced
to be false, and the reading of it an absurdity." The
condition of the German Protestants in the Danubian
Provinces of Turkey is alluded to, as one of " de
plorable practical infidelity and heathenism." In
England, " while some were looking at the books,
and seemed disposed to buy, one man remarked that
it was of no use to ask him to buy, as he did not be
lieve in the Bible; nor in the existence of God or
devil, heaven or hell." (This man, however, was
soon after converted.) In South Africa, "reference
is made to the unhappy effects produced by the re
cent notorious attempt to invalidate the historical
truth of the Pentateuch, and so to shake all faith in
Divine Revelation;" — that is, the foolish Colenso
assault upon the Bible.
Such then is this opposition, so far as it came with
in the province and thought of the American, and
British and foreign, Bible Societies, in their most re
cent Reports, to specify and illustrate it. At least, it
is sufficient to give us a passing glimpse of both the
massed and scattered foes of the Bible in all parts of
the world. This opposition, whether of Pagans, Mo-

294

THE TRIUMPH OF THE BIBLE

hammedans, Jews, or merely nominal or heretical
Christians, is all to be overcome.
Before quitting these peaceful Reports of Religious
and Benevolent Institutions, it may not be without
some suggestive interest to observe to how great an
extent war-terms are used by them in describing the
progress of their Bible work. Thus, on one hand,
we have " the power and device of the adversary ; "
the "difficulties to be combatted, prejudice and
bigotry to be assailed ; and hostility and resistance
encountered ;" the " enemies now commenced a differ
ent mode of attack;" and they "fought furiously to
the last, and ceased only when tired and conquered."
On the other hand, we find such phrases as these : —
the "Conquests of Truth;" the "defeat" of the
Priests; "Divine truth has vanquished it (i.e. preju
dice), and can vanquish it again ;" and " marveUous
has been the triumph of God's Word." In con
nexion with India, the Society, it is said, does not
despair of "ultimate triumph in the East." And
again : " No cause can so well afford to abide its
time ; no cause is so sure of perfect victory." Mean
time, " the Word of God is the only effectual weapon
to wield " in this great war.
So it is — a universal and perpetual war; a war
that must continue until the Rebellion of the World
is subdued, and " the kingdoms of this world are be-

OVER ALL OPPOSITION. 295
come the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ ;
and he shall reign forever and ever."
ADDITIONAL INDICATIONS OF PRESENT OPPOSITION.
The foregoing abstract, as already variously inti
mated, is of necessity very defective — because of the
character of the documents from which it has been
made. An exhaustive treatment of the subject would
require a very wide range of reading, and a very
careful methodical elaboration of collected materials
— especially those from recent antagonistic literature.
Neither time nor space remains for this.
The most painful fact connected with present op
position to the Bible is, that, here at home, within
the limits of Christendom itself, it has assumed so
many plausible and captivating disguises, theological,
scientific, and literary, and invaded, to so great an
extent, all departments of mind, from the highest to
the lowest, everywhere claiming even self-sacrificing
honesty, and professing to appear and act only in the
interest of truth.

26

ADDRESS,
Originally delivered at the Anniversary of the Young Men's
Bible Society, Cincinnati, November 21, 1848 ; and revised for
the Anniversaries of the Philadelphia and New York City
Bible Societies, November 27 and 30, 1856.

The Bible is distinguished from all other books
by two grand characteristics : — I. It is the Book
of God : H. It is the Book of Man.
I. THE BOOK OF GOD.
As the Book of God, the Bible, certainly, is an
incomparable production. The contemplation of
God as an Author, in a literary sense, is wonder
ful. The notion of human authors is common
enough. There is no history of the first, and no
prophecy of the last. Thousands ot years ago it
was said, " Of making many books there is no
end." Ten thousand times as many, I suppose,
are now made as were then; and yet the end
297

298

BIBLE ADDRESS.

seems as far off as ever. Among all the titles of
our poorly-rich old world, one of the most im
pressive is this : — the World of Books !
But the Bible is not of human authorship.
True, its contents have been committed to parch
ment, paper, and various other materials, by
human hands; but those hands were under in
finitely higher direction than that of the human
spirit. Even human authors frequently dictate
their thoughts to amanuenses : sometimes, because
of physical defect ; at others, because of mental
impatience ; and for many different but sufficient
reasons. In a word, authorship, like every thing
great, is of the soul. There originate the
" Thoughts that breathe and words that burn,''
of which Gray so sublimely sings. Thence spring
the living lightnings of the eye and the living
thunders of the tongue. Without the soul, the
eye, — how dull! the tongue, — how still! the
hand, — how awkward and inapt! Homer and
Milton, therefore, are not less the authors of their
immortal poems, nor Thiers and Prescott of their
applauded histories, for want of autograph manu
scripts. Neither is the God of Nature any less
the Author of the Bible, because we have no
sacred vellum to unroll from its golden rod, full

BIBLE ADDRESS. 299
of starry symbols traced by His own thrilling
fingers. It were a marvellous thing for an angel to
appear as an author, — for Gabriel or Michael, for
instance, to favor the world with some duly-
attested composition, as a fair expression of his
genius and intelligence ; some history, law, or
psalm; some proverb or prophecy; some doc
trinal and practical epistle, or apocalypse of things
unseen and unknown. And yet this were nothing
in comparison with God's appearance as an
Author. He, whose absolutely-perfect infinitude
is the source and support of all the subjective
and objective intellect in the universe, has con
descended to assume this humble form in our
midst. Here, in the Bible, He reveals Himself in
all the relations just alluded to, — as a Historian,
Lawgiver, and Poet; a Proverbialist and Pro
phet ; a Doctrinal and Moral Preceptor ; a graphic
Delineator of the symbolic apocalypse of the
future. It may be that this is at once the first and last
appearance of our Maker in this way. He has
created millions of worlds, but composed only
one book. What a contrast ! The worlds, — how
magnificent they are ! Even the planets are mag
nificent: how much more the suns! and, still,
26*

300 BIBLE ADDRESS.
how much more the systems ! How infinitely
magnificent the universal system of systems !
To the all-comprehensive eye of their Creator,
with what a blaze of glory they light up im
mensity ! To the all-comprehensive ear of their
Creator, with what a concert of music they en
liven eternity ! How much of His perfections He
has diffused among them all ! And yet, after all,
— for this is the point of these remarks, — He has
enclosed more of His perfections in this little
Book than He has spread abroad over all the
creation ! His mind opens here as it never
opened there. His heart throbs here as it never
throbbed there. Nay, more, — to finish the figure
and tell the whole truth, — His eyes weep here,
His tongue falters here, and His hand trembles
here. No wonder He resigned the pen to steadier
nerves. He might indent the Law on tables of
stone ; but He could not record the story of the
Cross !
It is enough ! One sun in heaven, one Bible
on earth ! — one the light of the natural world, the
other the light of the spiritual world ! Where is
natural day ? Wherever the sun shines ! And
where is spiritual day? Wherever the Bible
shines ! In either case, day is nowhere else.
True, the moon gives light when the sun has set ;

BIBLE ADDRESS. 301
and so the church may give light when the Bible
is withdrawn. But, in both cases, it is night-
light, not daylight. Besides, the sun is not set to
the moon, but only to the earth : the moon sees
it still, though the earth does not, and the moon
shines because she sees it. And so the Bible is
not withdrawn from the church, but only from
the world. In all such instances the church sees
it, though the world does not, and the church
shines only because she sees it. If all the moon
be dark except half its edge-line, even that is
proof that the sun is still in sight ; and so, if all
the church be dark save some small segment, even
that, however small, is proof that the Bible has
not quite passed away. Still, the moon rejoices
most when the sun returns and she is allowed to
hide herself in his' glory ; and so the church
triumphs most when the Bible returns and she
is permitted to fade in its excelling splendor !
I know not how others feel in this connection ;
but in my own heart there is a desire that the Bible
may not perish with this poor sinful world, — that
the Book of God may not be consumed with the
productions of men. The Caliph Omar has been
reproached, for more than a thousand years, for
consigning the Alexandrian Library to the flames ;
and it may be that the warming of four thousand

302 BIBLE ADDRESS.
baths for six months was but a paltry recom
pense for the loss suffered by literature in that
barbaric incident. Still, it can scarcely be sup
posed that any human writings will survive, or
deserve to survive, the conflagration of the last
day. The constitutions and laws of states and
churches, and all the annals of. protected and pro
gressive civilization connected with them, will
mingle their ashes with the ruin and refuse of all
things, and, it may be, no reason remain to de
plore their fate. But the Bible, — God's own and
only Book ! — surely it would seem that one copy
of that at least — one perfect and imperishable
transcript, — in its texture and inscription purer
than the firmament and brighter than its fires;
attested, moreover, in behalf of Father, Son, and
Spirit, with the seal and signature of our Lord
Jesus Christ — should adorn forever the mercy-
seat in heaven, as once the Shekinah adorned the
mercy-seat on earth.
II. THE BOOK OF MAN.
But the Bible is the Book of man as well as the
Book of God. In this relation, also, it is an in
comparable production. Schools of literature,
art, science, and philosophy, — all have their text
books. Ecclesiastical sects and political parties, —

BIBLE ADDRESS. 303
all have their text-books. Nations have their
text-books. But where is the text-book of our
common humanity? Where, but in the Bible,
can any thing be found in the slightest degree
worthy to bear the title of the Book of Man ?
And now, tell me, who could have expected a
Book for mankind to come forth from the Jews ?
Remember, they were a small nation, an isolated
nation, an exclusive nation, regarded by others as
malignant, and denounced, in so many words, as
the haters of mankind. How came they to com
mence and consummate a work so complex in its
structure, and yet so simple in its adaptations to
the character and condition of our whole race ;
a work so early begun, so long continued, so gra
dually developed, and so happily completed; a
work so changeable in its scribes, so various in
its style, so consecutive in its subjects, so com
prehensive in its relations, and so transcendent in
the importance of its contents ; with occasions so
grand, with objects so stupendous, and with means
so mighty and sure ; recovering the past, occupying
the present, and anticipating the future ; filling
heaven and earth; possessing time and eternity;
discoursing of God, angels, devils, and men ; un
folding creation, providence, and redemption;
disdaining nothing, however little ; despairing of

304 BIBLE ADDRESS.
nothing, however great ; and yet so selecting its
facts, so inculcating its principles, so urging its
obligations, and so exercising its authority, as to
constrain — absolutely constrain, reluctantly but
inevitably — all art, all science, all philosophy, and
all literature, — all schools, all sects, all parties,
and all nations, — all ages of time and all king
doms of nature, — to bow down to it and confess
its supreme and separate claims as the one and
only Law of the world ; enthroning itself in inac
cessible pomp, and power, and glory, with the
spoils of all genius, and all learning, and all in
vention, and all advancement, laid down in lowly
homage at its feet ?
Is there not something more than the majesty
of the Jewish mind in all this ? Why, then, has
not the Jewish mind produced other Bibles ? A
longer interval has elapsed since the completion
of the Sacred Canon than occurred during all
its progress, — fifteen hundred years before, and
eighteen hundred, since ! If, during the fifteen
hundred years, sixty-six Books of Glory ori
ginated there, why not one from the same source
during the eighteen hundred years which have
since gone by? Such questions are the more
pertinent because of the fact that, while the
greatest nations of antiquity, in the providence

BIBLE ADDRESS. 305
of God, have been destroyed, the Jews, by the
same providence, have been preserved. Here
they are, at this day, standing among us as a
perpetual social miracle. Nor only so ; but they
have existed, to a great extent, as colonists of
genius and learning, in all lands and ages. In
all probability, they are as numerous now as
they ever were ; and their national mind has lost
little, if any thing, of its merely natural majesty.
Therefore I press the question, — If there be
nothing more than Jewish mind in the Bible,
why has not this same mind produced other and
equal Bibles ?
I take the more interest in this topic, because
of the folly of some who declare, even in the
sanctuary, that if men now living, whether Jews
or Gentiles, would lead holy lives, correspond
ing with those of the inspired writers, they might
prepare new Scriptures, as full of inspiration and
as high in authority as the Bible of the prophets
and apostles of old. Alas, that the wisdom of
God is so misunderstood ! More than holiness is
requisite to inspiration. There must be a pur
pose with God, as well as principle in man, to
prompt the gift.
Why cannot such persons see that the Bible
was written to meet the demands of great occa-

306 BIBLE ADDRESS.
sions, — to perpetuate the controlling facts of the
divine administration, — to register the creation,
the fall, the promise, the curse, the deluge ; the
covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Moses ; the
first advent of Christ, the organization and des
tiny of the church, and the second advent of
Christ, without sin, unto salvation? Are there
any such occasions to require the aid of inspira
tion now ? Have we any new creation to record 1
Has any new Adam fallen? — any new Paradise
been forfeited ? — any new curse been pronounced?
— or any new deluge drowned the world ? Has
any new Noah, or Abraham, or Moses, appeared 1
Has our Savior renewed His first advent, and are
new evangelists needed to prepare new memo
rials? Are the crucifixion, burial, resurrection,
and ascension, recent events, still unrecorded?
Is Pentecost just over ? Is the church just open
ing its gates to Jews and Gentiles? Are new
Epistles, or is a new Apocalypse, wanted? Can
any thing be brought down from heaven more
beautiful than the New Jerusalem? Or, as the
last inspired book, from which nothing can be
taken away and to which nothing can be added
without incurring the most fearful wo, now closes
with the benediction : — " The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen !" — is not

BIBLE ADDRESS. 307
that enough ? Let men. find occasions, great
occasions, demanding inspiration, before they
speak so pertly of securing and employing it.
Even the old localities, sacredly as they are
cherished, have lost their old occasions. As to
the world before the flood, that seems to be still
under the flood. But go to Ararat: how its life
less pinnacles glitter in the lofty realms of per
petual snow ! Go to Sinai : how still the cliffs
which once sounded aud resounded with the
trumpets of angels and the voice of God ! Go to
Bethlehem and Jerusalem, to Gethsemane and
Calvary, to Ephesus and Patmos, to Athens and
Rome, and, whatever may remain, you will find
that the grand occasions for inspiration no longer
exist. How could it be otherwise ? They passed
with the times to which they belonged. We
find them, not where they occurred, but in the
Bible itself, their appointed and proper de
pository. Open the Bible, and Ararat shows its
ark, and altar, and rainbow, yet. Open the
Bible, and Sinai trembles beneath the footsteps
of Jehovah yet. Open the Bible, and Calvary
not only trembles, but breaks its heart, though
stern as rock, in shuddering sympathy with the
dying Son of God.
But, leaving this topic, let us look at another.
27

308 BIBLE ADDRESS.
There is a wonderful resemblance between the
Bible itself and Him whose story it tells and
whose spirit it embodies. Like our Lord him
self, the Bible was long surrounded by envious
and malignant foes, and for much the same
reason. If it would have ministered to worldly
ambition, they would have made it the king
of books, as the enemies of Christ, on the same
condition, would have made Him the King of
men. But, like Him, it spurned the bribe. Like
Him, it uttered its instructions and wrought its
miracles for nobler ends. Like Him, therefore,
it was derided and denounced. Its enemies,
like His, took counsel against it in private, and
assailed it by concert in public. They ques
tioned it on every subject which they hoped
would entangle it. They sought, with all cun
ning, to secure matter of accusation against it;
but its answers silenced them so completely,
that they became afraid to question it further.
Still, they plotted its destruction ; bought over
not only one, but many, of its professed friends ;
and then arrested it, mocked it, spit upon it,
smote it, tried it, condemned it, crucified it,
buried it, sealed its sepulchre, set a guard there,
and then triumphed in the power of their wrath :
ay, triumphed, until that guard, all pale and

BIBLE ADDRESS. 309
quivering, hurried in and alarmed them with
the tidings of its resurrection ! Then fast they
fled to the horns of the altar; but only to find
that the veil of their temple was rent in twain,
that their protection and glory had forever de
parted, and that their Victim, radiant with im
mortality, had ascended to the throne of universal
and perpetual dominion !
And what now ? Eighteen centuries have gone
by since the ascension of Christ, — since "the
Father of glory" "set Him at His own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all prin
cipality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come;" and
determined to "put all things under His feet,"
and, in the mean time, "gave Him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is His
body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all ;"
ordaining that, ultimately, " at the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and
things on earth, and things under the earth ; and
that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of Grod the Father." Now,
however, we are all in waiting for this. "We
see not yet all things put under Him ;" but this
we see: — "We see Jesus, who was made a little

310 BIBLE ADDRESS.
lower than the angels, for the suffering of death,"
or as the reward of His suffering, " crowned with
glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God,
should taste death for every man ;" that is, that
His very crown and glory, given to Him in
proof of the favor of God, should demonstrate
to the world that He died, not for His own sins,
but for the sins of mankind, — to redeem them
from death and the grave, and exalt them to an
everlasting participation in the ineffable grandeur
and felicity of His own destiny.
And what now? Is Christ, therefore, now
without enemies? Has the world learned at
last to admire and adore the infinite dignity of
His mediation ? Does it lift up its voice, and
exclaim, "We bless and magnify thy name,
0 Christ, that thou didst not bow down to the
littleness of earthly ambition ! We thank thee
that when Satan tempted thee with the proffer
of all the kingdoms of the world and the glory
of them if thou wouldst bend the knee to him,
thou didst straighten thy stature, and darken
thy countenance in awful rebuke, and drive him,
confounded, from thy presence ! We thank thee
that when the people, charmed by thy sympathy
and benevolence, would have taken thee by
force to make thee a king, thou didst hide thy-

BIBLE ADDRESS. 311
self in the mountain-seclusion, preferring to be
alone, with the thought of redemption, rather
than to sway the sceptre over the proudest
empire of sin ! We thank thee that when the
' chief priests, and scribes, and elders' mocked
thee, and said, 'He saved others, himself he
cannot save : if he be the king of Israel, let
him now come down from the cross, and we
will believe him,' — thou didst still prefer the
cross, even when thy Father himself seemed to
turn away from it and from thee, — preferred it
to all that earth and heaven could give besides !
We thank thee that after thy resurrection, when
thy disciples, still infatuated with sensual delu
sions, inquired of thee, 'Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel ?' thou
didst answer them only with the promise of
spiritual gifts, and then ascended to heaven to
receive them of the Father and distribute them
unto men ! We thank thee, moreover, that, ever
since, thou- hast consecrated to the same work
of entire and eternal salvation the concentrate
sympathies of thy humanity and energies of
thy divinity, and art now conducting it, with
infinite patience and perseverance, toward its
decreed, and certain, and ineffably-illustrious
triumph !" 27*

312 BIBLE ADDRESS.
Does the world at last thus lift up its voice,
and bless and magnify the name of Christ?
Nay, verily. True, He has more disciples now
than He had in the beginning; but so has He
more enemies, — enemies, if possible, more crafty
and malicious than those of old. He was
sneered at on the cross ; He is blasphemed on
the throne !
And, my friends, — friends of the great and
glorious cause now before us, — just so it is
with the Bible. What though it has been raised
from the dead? What though it has ascended
to the very zenith of spiritual pomp and power ?
What though it is the mightiest agent now in
action in all the world ? What though its God
like objects are still prosecuted as benignantly
and beneficently as ever? At this very moment
it is as much as ever, if not more than ever,
abhorred and abominated by its multiform foes.
But what of that? Can they pluck it down
from its sublime sphere of majesty and glory?
What ! Can they kill it again, and bury it
again ? As well might they attempt to crucify
and entomb the Lord Jesus Christ again ! Here
is the point of the resemblance I have drawn. As
well might they attempt to crucify and entomb
the Lord Jesus Christ again !

BIBLE ADDRESS. 313
What then ? I appeal to them. Where is
your Judas? Bring him out. Where are your
officers? Summon them hither. Where are the
elements of your mob? Collect them all. Give
them staffs ; for they have a long journey before
them. Give them swords ; they need keener
blades than human hands have ever wielded.
But, as to lanterns, let them leave these behind ;
for there is " no night there ; and they need no
candle, neither light of the sun : for the Lord
God giveth them light." Now, therefore, if your
bands can bear that light, let their motley ranks
march on. First, let them try their steel against
the lightning-scimetars of the twelve legions of
angels whom Jesus held in restraint in Geth
semane. Next, let them drive back and over
turn the twenty thousand chariots of fire which
escorted Him from earth to heaven, when He
" ascended on high, and led captivity captive,
that He might receive gifts for men ; yea, for the
rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell
among them." Then let them force open the
gates and batter down the everlasting doors,
which would not lift up their heads even to the
King of glory, without due challenge and answer,
— would not allow even the Lord strong and
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of

314 BIBLE ADDRESS.
hosts, to come in, until His victorious retinue
had shouted the password to their faithful and
fearless sentinels. This done, let them press
their way through the whole population of the
New Jerusalem, — saints, angels, and archangels ;
cherubim and seraphim ; thrones, and domi
nions, and principalities, and powers ; the morn
ing-stars and the sons of God ; — press their way
to the height of Zion and to the palace of the
King, — press their way through portal, and hall,
and all their flaming guardians, — press their way
to the very chamber of Presence and to the
throne and person of Him who is " God over
all, and blessed forever." Then let the Arch-
Traitor draw near and kiss Him, saying, "Hail,
Master !" — and then let the captains seize Him,
— and then, amidst countless millions of silent
harps and trumpets, let them raise the shout
of Satanic triumph, — and then let them return
to the earth again, leading with them, through
all the weeping orders of the helpless hierarchy,
their pale and placid Victim, down from the.
throne, and crown, and sceptre of eternity, to
the reed and thorns of Pilate's hall, and the
nakedness, nails, and cross of bloody Calvary !
Then let them seal his sepulchre again ; set
around it a guard which no angel can frighten,

BIBLE ADDRESS. 315
and make all dark, and still, and sure forever!
Let them do all this ; for then — and not until
then — they may do the same to the Bible !
Let them do it? Who do it? — who? Really,
the very contemplation of their presumption in
volves the oblivion of their persons ! A flock
of bats may endeavor to overshadow the world
with their wings, when the sky reddens and
flames, and the morning leaps from peak to
peak among the mountains, and the whole ocean
flashes from pole to pole in the sunrise; but
who that happens to notice their crooked pinions,
and leather membranes, and zigzag flight, even
for a moment, does not, the next moment, forget
them all forever ? If they cannot but hate the
light, let them content themselves with obscuring
their own cavern, — hanging close together in its
entrance, hook by hook and claw within claw, with
their eyes shut and their faces turned inward, —
leaving all the world without to exult in its
noontide blaze of heavenly splendor.
No, no: the Bible is enthroned on earth, as
Christ is enthroned in heaven, for the salvation
of souls, for the redemption of mankind. As
Christ is the Son of God, so the Bible is the
Book of God. And as Christ is the Son of
man, so the Bible is the Book of man. And

316 BIBLE ADDRESS.
as God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, so He is in the Bible, reconciling the
world unto himself, — not imputing their tres
passes unto them, but, for Christ's sake, for
giving and saving all who believe in Him, and
in the Book which testifies of Him.
God knows what man is ; Christ knows what
man is ; and the Bible — the Book of God, and
of Christ, and of man — shows what man is.
Some of the enemies of the Bible reject it
altogether, — are ready to throw it into the fire
and spit upon its ashes. These are the selfish
ones, — sensual, or cruel, or both: rioters of pas
sion, or tyrants over the bodies and souls of the
people. Others reject only what the Bible relates of
the life to come. In relation to the life that
now is, they have recently discovered that the
Bible is a fine Book; that it teaches universal
brotherhood, liberty, and equal rights ; that it
furnishes the best shield in the world against
the spear of the oppressor, and the best sword
in the world wherewith to cut him down. These
are the vain reformers of our race, — the dove-
hearted dupes of the tiger-hearted devil.
The Bible rises, and will continue to rise,
above them all. "For my thoughts are not your

BIBLE ADDRESS. 317
thoughts, neither are your ways .my ways, saith
the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
The Bible is the Book of man, — not of a herd
of brutal sensualists. It is the Book of man, —
not of an alliance or convocation of tyrants.
It is the Book of man, — not of the body only.
It is the Book of man, — not of the soul only.
It is the Book of man, — not- of a few bodies
and a few souls only. It is the Book of man,
— not of a sect or party in either church or
state. It is the Book of man, — not of the state
in whole, nor yet of the church in whole. It
is the Book of man, — not of state and church
combined. It is the Book of man, — not of all
states and churches on earth combined. It is
the Book of man, — of every man, body and soul,
— of all men, in all relations and throughout all
generations, — "having promise of the life that
now is, and also of that which is to come."
" This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation." Can any man suppose that God would give
His Son to the cross, or His Book to the press,
for a part of the world only ? No more than
He would give rain, or sunshine, or air, for a

318 BIBLE ADDRESS..
part of the world only ! He values spiritual
life more highly than natural life, and is not
less free in the gift of means to sustain it.
But, strange to say, these means are committed
to a few for the benefit of all. The Book —
unlike the rain, and sunshine, and air — must be
sent abroad by human hands. Herein is our elect
honor. Herein is our most solemn responsibility.
God help us to act worthily !
It is well, sir, to hold such anniversaries in
National Halls. It is well to claim the sup
port of Cities of Brotherly Love. It is well to
challenge the help of the noblest representa
tives of church and state. But "who is suffi
cient for these things?" As the Bible itself
is the Book of God and the Book of man,
so the circulation of it is the cause of God and
the cause of. man. In such a work, the rarest
human energy is nothing without the richest
divine blessing.
What then ? Let us all say, deliberately and
reverently, Down with state authority, down
with church authority, down with all authority,
— on land and sea, at home and abroad, now
and forever, — in so far as it opposes the authority
of the Bible ! The Bible is not only the higher
Law, but the highest Law ; not of one country

BIBLE ADDRESS. 319
only, but of all countries ; and not for one age
only, but for all ages. Up, therefore, with indi
vidualism; not, however, the individualism of
infidelity, but the individualism of the Bible ;
not the element of anarchy, but the regenerating
conservatism of society, — the best basis of com
mon order and peace ; the individualism of evan
gelical repentance, faith, hope, and love ; the
individualism of true manhood ; the individualism
of the image of God impressed on the soul and
shining in the very countenance of the redeemed.
The Bible and private judgment ! — the Bible and
liberty of conscience ! — the Bible and personal re
sponsibility ! — the Bible and social progress in
church and state, here and everywhere, now,
henceforth, and forever. Amen !

2S

COKKESPONDENCE*

"House of Representatives, "Washington, March 19, 1860.
" Ret. T. H. Stockton.
"Dear Sir.: — The undersigned, Members of the House, would respectfully
request a copy of your salutatory Sermon, delivered yesterday in the Hall of the
House. We wish it for publication, that its influence may be widely extended by
the circulation we shall give to it. If it comport with your inclinations and con
venience, a compliance with this request will greatly oblige
** Tour friends,
" s. s. cox, g. w. scranton,
jno. hickman, w. howard,
e. joy morris, thomas b. florence,
thos. a. r. nelson, jno. g. davis,
a. a. burnham, jas. c. robinson,
john mclean, j. w. stevenson,
jno. a. bingham, roger a. pryor,
Robert Mcknight, c. l. vaxlandigham,
jas. b. mckean, j. k. moorhead,
e. b. french, c. b. sedgwick,
john hutchins, wm. pennington."'

"Washington, March 22,1860.
" Gentlemen :
" Your request was as much a surprise as my election. Humbly trusting, how
ever, that there is a vindicating and progressive Providence in these incidents,
and wishing, most devoutly, to be enabled to answer its purposes, I respectfully
commit my discourse to your disposal.
" As you appropriately intimate, it is a simple salutation, — prepared hastily, but
not without prayer or care, — designed to announce certain main principles and
connect them with suitable reminiscences and exhortations. If, in lookiug at the
manuscript (containing a few verbal corrections and additions of personal names),
you still deem it likely to do good, I shall be grateful for the use you may make
of it. " With all respect, I remain
" Your servant, for Christ's sake,
" T. H. STOCKTON.
" Hon. Wm. Pennington, Speaker of the nouse of Representatives.
" John McLean, Judge of the Supreme Court.
" S. S. Cox; Hon. Jno. Hickman ;
" E. Jov Morris; and other Members of the House."

* Copied to indicate co-oporaUvo sentiments then prevalent.
820

SERMON FROM THE CAPITOL.

THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAYING WORDS OF CHRIST.

Delivered in the Sail of the Bouse of Representatives, on Sabbath
morning, March 18, 1860.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away." — Matthew xxiv. 35.
"We need elevation. As men, Americans and
Christians, we need elevation. In onr persons
and families, states and churches, we all need
elevation. Properly speaking, it is impossible
to desire too great elevation. The woe of the
world is the want of a true ambition.
To prevent us from taking unjust advantage
of this truth, it is enough to remember the
Gospel maxim: — "For whosoever exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted." This maxim both commends the
object and directs the pursuit.

322 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
And now, — see! One day, a young Galilean
carpenter, followed by a few lake-shore fisher
men, entered the Temple at Jerusalem; as a.
company of our countrymen, from any rural
district, on any day, enters this Capitol. Soon
after, as they left the Temple, some of the
young man's friends invited his attention to
certain fine ornaments and massive stones, cha
racteristic of the general and incomparable rich
ness and strength of the buildings. But he
replied to them, "See ye not all these things?
Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown
down." What did they think of that? What would
we think of a rustic visitor, who should leave
this Capitol, saying to his companions, — and in
a manner implying imminency of the event, —
JN"ot one stone of it shall be left upon another!
Strange as it may seem, that Galilean group
had no little confidence in their leader; and,
therefore, when they had come with him, out
from the city, down the hill, over Kedron, and
up Olivet, until they reached a suitable position
for a wide resurvey of the scene, no sooner was
he seated than they drew near to him with the
question, "Tell us, when shall these things be?"

WORDS OF CHRIST. 323
What then? Did he withdraw what he had
said, or make light of it, or intimate any possi
bility of mistake ? Not at all. Rather, he gave
them a prolonged and specific answer; in the
course of which, ascending, with infinite ease, to
an infinitely sublimer assumption, he did not
hesitate to declare, "Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away!" It is
as though he had said, There reposes the Holy
City ; girt about with all the defences of art and
nature; and glittering all over with the concen
trate wealth and power and pride of a great
nation, during a long succession of royal and
priestly ages. There expands, pre-eminently and
most impressively, the peerless magnificence of
the venerated and impregnable Temple. To
you, it seems marvellous that I should predict
the destruction of all. But to me, that olden
glory is only as the fading pageant of a summer
sunset. Look away from the city, beyond and
above it. Behold the mountains round about it!
Behold the firmament bending over it! ISTay,
let your thought exceed your vision. Think of
the fulness of heaven and earth; of continents,
islands, and seas; of sun, moon, and stars; of
the divine origin, grandeur, perpetuity, and gov
ernment of all. Think well of these things, and
23* _

324 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
then remember, — that my words are mightier
and more enduring than all. Not only shall
Jerusalem pass away, but heaven and earth shall
pass away ; and yet my feeblest word, the faint
est sound of my voice, the gentlest breath from
my lips, shall never pass away.
Did they believe him? Yes; and with good
reason. They witnessed, to a great extent, the
power of his words. Attracted by those words,
cities were emptied and deserts filled. At his
word, the "common people," who "heard him
gladly," grew wiser than the wisest of their
teachers. At his word, the hierarchs of genius
and learning, of law and religion, blushed and
trembled, — darkening with rage or paling with
affright. At his word, his humble disciples were
qualified and commissioned to supersede "the
wisdom of the world," and become themselves
the apostles of nations and instructors of man
kind. At his word, every scene of his presence
became a circle of divine enchantment: where
deaf men listened, and dumb men spoke, and
blind men looked, and lame men leaped, and
the paralytic stood still, and the leper was clean,
and the maimed made whole, and the withered
restored, and the sick revived, and the lunatic
calmed, and the demoniac dispossessed, and the

WORDS OF CHRIST. 325
dead — just risen from their tombs — exchanged
new greetings with the pressing multitudes of
the living. True, their faith was sorely tried:
chiefly, when their youthful leader expired on
the cross. But he soon rose from the dead,
ascended into heaven, and thence "gave gifts
unto men." Thus, their faith was renewed and
confirmed, forever. Then they repeated and re
corded his words; committing them, intrust, to
all nations and ages. In fulfilment of the pre
diction specially referred to, before that genera
tion passed away, the Temple was destroyed, and
Jerusalem with it; and the people were scattered
and their institutions overthrown. The carcass
of Judaism lay stretched along the hill-side, and
from the whole cope of heaven the eagles of
Home hurried to the festival. Since then, the
words of that young man have become the law
of the world; and miracles, corresponding with
those of his transient ministry, have been mul
tiplied on a larger scale and in more enduring
relations. At his word, deaf nations have lis
tened, and dumb nations spoke, and blind na
tions looked, and lame nations leaped, and para
lytic nations have been strengthened, and leprous
nations cleansed, and maimed nations made
whole, and withered nations restored, and sick

326 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
nations revived, and lunatic nations calmed, and
demoniac nations dispossessed, and dead nations
brought forth exultant from their graves. Even
these miracles are "as nothing, less than no
thing, and vanity," in comparison with others
which are yet to come,— miracles in behalf of all
nations, and of our whole race, and of the world
itself. And still, with the same easy, natural,
infinite sublimity as at first, he assures us all,
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away."
Now, therefore, rises the all-important ques
tion: — Do we believe him? We live more than
eighteen hundred years after his advent. We
live in a new world; unknown to the old, in
which he lived, until within less than four hun
dred years ago. A new soil is under our feet,
and a new sky over our heads. We show, on
a vast area, free and unembarrassed, the best
results of a thousand social revolutions. To us,
the most of the old things of the old world have
passed away: old governments, old mythologies,
old philosophies, old sciences, old arts, and old
manners, customs, and usages. To us, nearly
all things have become new. But have the
old words of that young Nazarene passed away
from us? or has any new master superseded his

WORDS OF CHRIST. 327
authority over us ? Not in the slightest degree !
His authority is still supreme, and every syllable
of his utterance as sure as ever. As it has been,
and is, so it always shall be. With gratitude for
our history, in vindication of our honor, and in
acknowledgment of the true and only source of
our power, — in due remembrance of our fathers,
with due respect for ourselves, and due regard
for our children, — I here arise, on this highest
height of the nation, as a representative, how
ever humble, of our people at large of every
State in the Union, and of the United States in
whole; and thus, with lifted hand, repeat our
solemn, national affirmation, — our official and
perpetual proclamation to all mankind, — that
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the
Words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
shall not pass away !
I contemplate the heaven and earth of the
old world: the overrulings of Providence and
changes of society there. I think of the passing
away of the whole circle of ancient Mediter
ranean civilization. I think of the dark ages of
Europe. I think of the morning of the Reforma
tion, and the fore-gleamings of "the latter-day
glory." I think of Art, and her printing-press;
of Commerce, and her compass; of Science, and

328 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
her globe; of Religion, and her Bible. I con
template the opening of the heaven and earth
of the new world : the overrulings of Providence
and changes of society here. I think of the
passing away of savage simplicities, and of the
rude semblances of civilization in Mexico and
Peru, and of earlier and later declensions. I
think of the gracious reservation of our own
inheritance for present and nobler occupancy.
I think of our Revolution, and its result of Inde
pendence. I think of our first Union, first Con
gress, first prayer in Congress, and first Congres
sional order for the Bible ; and of our wonderful
enlargement, development, and enrichment since.
And, in view of all, — of the whole heaven and
whole earth of the whole world; and of all
changes, social and natural, past, present, and
future; profoundly and unalterably assured, as
I trust we all are, that the truth as it is "in
Jesus" is the only stability in the universe, — I
feel justified in invoking, this day, your renewal
of our common and constant confession, that
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words
of Christ shall never pass away. And, standing
where we do, on the central summit of this great
Confederacy, unequalled in all history for all
manner of blessings, if we did not so confess

WORDS OF CHRIST. 329
Christ; if we did not cherish the simple con
fidence of His primitive disciples, and hail thp
coming of our Lord with hosannas; if we could
ignobly hold our peace; the very statues of the
Capitol "would immediately cry out;" the mar
ble lips of Columbus, Penn, and Washington;
of War and Peace; of the Pioneer and of Free
dom, would part to praise His name; and the
stones of the foundation and walls, of the arcades
and corridors, of the rotunda and halls, would
respond to their glad and grand acclaim.
But we do confess Him ! From Maine to Flo
rida, from Florida to Texas, from Texas to Cali
fornia, from California to Oregon, and from Ore
gon back to Maine ; our lake States, gulf States,
and ocean States ; our river States, prairie States,
and mountain States ; all unite in confessing and
blessing His name; beholding His glory, sur
rounding His throne, high and lifted up; and
ever crying, like the six-winged seraphim, one
to another, far and near, from the North and
the South, from the East and the West, "Holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is
full of his glory."
But where are the words of Christ? and what
are they? He did not write them; but merely
spoke them, and that during a brief ministry.'

330 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
Nevertheless, they were recorded; and not only
auch as were uttered in the flesh, but others with
which the writers were inspired by His spirit,
both before and after His advent, — the revela
tions of the prophets and apostles. All alike
are His words; and here they are, — in the
Bible! The Bible, from beginning to end, is
the book of Christ. And, therefore, affirming
of the whole what is true of every part, I hold
up the Bible, and, in the name of Christ, pro
claim to the country and the world, Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but the blble,
the holy and blessed blble, shall not pass
away! What, then, are the words of Christ? or, as
the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the
Bible, is the inspired and authoritative record
of them, — what is the Bible ?
We hear much of the Higher Law; and the
application of the phrase to civil affairs has ex
cited great prejudice and given great offence.
But what is the Higher Law? It is said to be
something higher than the Constitution of the
United States. Can there be a law, within these
United States, higher than the Constitution of
the United States ? If there can be, and is, such
a law, what is it? I need not, and will not,

WORDS OF CHRIST. 331
recite inferior, questionable, and inappropriate
answers here. But is there not one unques
tionable answer? Suppose it be said, that, in
relation to all subjects to which it was designed
to apply, and properly does apply, the Bible is
a higher law than the Constitution of the United
States. Will any man, unless an utter infidel,
deny this? Surely not. Waiving its practical
operations, certainly, as an abstract proposition,
this must be admitted as true. It may be ex
tended, so as to include all our State constitu
tions, and all our Church constitutions, and all
our more Social constitutions. Put them all to
gether, magnify and boast of them as we may,
not only is the Bible a higher law, but it is an
infinitely higher law. For thus saith the Lord:
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than
your thoughts." Therefore, also, the universal
and perpetual prophetic challenge: — "0 earth,
earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!"
If this be not true, my mission, at least, is an
entire mistake, and my commission ends. But
it is true ; and, if there were no other argument
to prove it true, this one were all-sufficient. All
human constitutions — social, ecclesiastical, and
civil — are changeable, and contain provisions for
23

332 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
change ; but the Bible is unchangeable. Instead
of any provision for change, it is guarded, at all
points, against change. The writer of its first
five books declares, in the last of the five, " Ye
shall not add unto the word which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep
the commandments of the Lord your God, which I
command you." And, in like manner, the author
of its last five books declares, in the last of the
five, "If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book: and if any man shall take away from tlie
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of ihe book of life, and out of the
holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book." And so Isaiah, standing midway between
Moses and John, exclaims, "Lift up your eyes to
the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the
heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth
shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell there
in shall die in like manner ; but my salvation shall be
forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished."
Therefore, it is only in accordance with the testi
mony of all His witnesses, that Christ himself
avers, " Think not that I am come to destroy the
law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and

WORDS OF CHRIST. 333
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no loise pass
from the law, till all be fulfilled." And so again,
in the text itself, "Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away."
Thank God for one book above amendment!
"Forever, 0 Lord, thy word is settled in heaven."
And here, in our place and day, we respond to
the psalmist on Zion, — Forever, 0 Lord, thy
word is settled on earth. No man or set of men ;
no king, priest, or scribe; no popular convention,
ecclesiastical council, or national congress, would
dare to erase one letter from the record. Let our
own countrymen, in particular, treat other books
as they think they have a right to do, or feel it
their duty or make it their interest or pleasure
to do, — by amendment, abridgment, or enlarge
ment; by interpolation or expurgation, — not one
among them, North, South, East, or West, would
presume to touch, with any such purpose, the
sacred ark containing the Higher Law of God.
Here is our shrine of worship, the oracle of our
wisdom, and the glory of our power.
But a higher Law implies a higher Judge, and
a higher Administrator. And who is the higher
Judge? The Holy Spirit! the Spirit of truth,
promised unto us to guide us into all truth;
making us spiritual and giving us spiritual ap-

334 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
prehension; aiding us in the comparison of spi
ritual things with spiritual; searching the deep
things of God, as contained in the Bible, and
revealing them unto us. And who is the higher
Administrator? Christ Himself! into whose
hands the Father has committed all power "in
heaven and in earth," to qualify Him fully for
the duties of this sovereign office. Does any
one object to the higher Administrator? Does
any one object to the higher Judge? Then why
object to the higher Law? They go together,
are all divine, and all supreme forever. So that
we may say with the prophet, " The Lord is our
judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king;
he will save us."
" He ivill save us !" Blessed conclusion! with
out which all else were in vain, and worse than
in vain. He deigns to become our judge, law
giver, and king, only that He may save us; and,
if we do not thwart Him by our iniquities, be
cause He is our judge, lawgiver, and king, He
will save us.
Tell me, oh, tell me ! what is it we need? Do
we need health, or genius, or learning, or elo
quence, or pleasure, or fame, or power? Do we
need wealth, or rank, or office? Does any one of
us need to be chaplain, or clerk, or representative,

WORDS OF CHRIST. 335
or senator, or speaker, or vice-president? an of
ficer of the army or navy? a member or head of
any department? a foreign minister? a cabinet
officer? or even a successor in the line of presi
dents of the United States? Is such our need?
Ah, no! we need salvation.
What did I say in the beginning? Did I not
say we need elevation ? As men, Americans and
Christians, we need elevation: in our persons
and families, states and churches, we need ele
vation. Certainly I did thus speak, and meant
all I said.
O my friends! all the distinctions alluded to,
such as we know them here, are comparatively
little things. Greater things are in prospect;
but these things, though they seem great, are
really little. Pause, think, recall what life has
taught you, — what observation and experience
have combined to impress most deeply upon
your consciousness, — and begin your review with
the sad words, after all! After all, health is a
little thing, and genius is a little thing; and
learning, and eloquence, and pleasure, and fame,
and power, and wealth, and rank, and office, all
earthly things, are little things. How little satis
faction they yield while they last, and how soon
they pass away ! 29*

336 THE IMPERISHABLE AND SAVING
Ask the most successful around you, in these
relations, if they have yet supplied their highest
need ? As the general rule, the more successful
they have been, the older you will find them.
They have not attained their coveted posts of
honor by a single leap. They have risen gra
dually, through years of earnest toil. And the
soberness of reflection is now about them. And
the anticipation of a hastening end is with them.
Ask them, and they will answer: — After all, we
have spent our-lives in little things. We yet
need true elevation.
I would tell you, more particularly, of whom
to inquire, — were it not that you would prove it
in vain to seek them. Twenty-six years ago, at
the age of twenty-five, I was first called to this
office. Two years afterward, I served again. I
now compare, though briefly and imperfectly, the
present with the past. I find a new Hall and a
new Senate-Chamber; but the old HaU and the
old Senate-Chamber are still here. I find also a
new House and a new Senate; but where are the
old House and old Senate ? How many reminis
cences crowd upon me! — forms, and faces, and
voices, and gestures, and elaborate speeches, and
casual debates, and social remarks, and current
incidents: all impressed on youthful sensibili-

WORDS OF CHRIST. 337
ties, and not yet effaced. But I cannot describe
them. Where are Jarvis, of Maine, and Cush-
man and Hubbard, of New Hampshire ? Where
are Adams, Calhoun, and Choate ; Davis, Jack
son, and Lawrence ; Lincoln, Phillips, and Reed,
of Massachusetts ? Where are Ellsworth, Hun
tington, and Judson, of Connecticut? Where
Burges 'and Pearce, of Rhode Island? Where
Allen, Everett, and Slade, of Vermont? Where
Bokee, Childs, and Cramer ; Granger and Lan
sing ; Lee, Moore, and Wardwell, of New York ?
Where is Parker, of New Jersey? Where are
Beaumont, Chambers, and Denny; Hubley, Mc-
Kennan, and Mann; Miller, Muhlenberg, and
Watmough, of Pennsylvania? Where is Milli-
gan, of Delaware? Where are Dennis, Heath,
and Jenifer ; McKim and Steele ; Stoddert and
Washington, of Maryland? Where Bouldin,
Coles, and Dromgoole; Jones, Mason, and Mer
cer ; Patton, Stevenson, and Taliaferro, of Vir
ginia? Where Conner, Deberry, and McKay;
Sheppard, Speight, and Williams, of North Caro
lina? Where are Blair, Campbell, and Davis;
Griffin, McDuffie, and Pinckney, of S'outh Caro
lina? Where Glascock, Grantland, andHAYNES;
Holsey and Wilde, of Georgia? Where are
White, of Florida; and Lewis and Murphy, of

338 the imperishable and SAVING
Alabama? Where are Bullard, Garland, and
Ripley, of Louisiana? Where is Sevier, of Ar
kansas ? Where are Carter, Crockett, and Dun-
lap; Forrester and Huntsman; Polk, Pope, and
Standefer, of Tennessee? Where Allen, Boyd,
and French ; Graves, Hardin, and Hawes ; John
son, Lyon, and Williams, of Kentucky? Where
is Ashley, of Missouri ? Where are Duncan and
May, of Illinois? Where Boon, Davis, and Han-
negan; Kinnard, Lane, and McCarthy, of In
diana? And where are Hamer, Lytle, and
Sloane; Spangler, Thompson, and Vance, of
Ohio? All these, if my quest has been rightly
answered, have passed away, not only from
this House, but from the world; and, doubt
less, many of their colleagues, if not already
gone, are just about to follow. At least, they
are not here. Scarcely a relic is left! And so
of the Senate. Where are Clayton and Cuth
bert; Goldsborough, Hill, and Hendricks;
Kent, King, and Knight; Moore and Porter;
Southard and Sprague; Tipton, Tomlinson, and
Wall? Where the venerable White, and the
good-natured Grundy, and the sharp Poindex-
ter, and the learned Robbins, and the handsome
Linn, and the graceful Forsyth, and the saga
cious Wright, and the indomitable Benton, and

WORDS OF CHRIST. 339
the gentle-tongued Leigh ? Where is the easy,
all-elate, sonorous, and majestic eloquence of
Clay ? Where the calm, cool, clear, and massive
magnificence of Webster? Where the affable
dignity, the intellectual and moral loftiness, of
Calhoun ? Passed away, — all passed away ! Or,
will you leave the Halls of Congress ? Do you
think of the .Army ? — Where, then, are Macomb
and Gaines ? Of the Navy ? — Where, then, are
Rodgers and Barron? ''Will you enter the Su
preme Court? — Where is Marshall, Chief of
the Judges? and where is Wirt, Chief of the
Attorneys? Or, will you at last repair to the
Presidential mansion? Where, then, is Jackson,
Chief of the Heroes ? Passed away, — all passed
away ! How many of their companions, how
many of their successors, have also passed away,
I have neither time nor knowledge to declare.
It is but a little while and a limited area of
which I speak, and yet — what a scene of honored
dust, in sacred silence, alone remains !
Oh, if I could direct you to them, and you
could find them, and should ask them, — After
all, what is human need? would they not say,
It is elevation, it is salvation, — salvation by hu
miliation, in accordance with the life, and death,
and triumph of the meek and lowly Nazarene ?

340 THE imperishable and saving
Hearken to me this day, men, brethren, and
fathers ! Christianity is the most practical thing,
the most immediately and substantially important
thing, in the universe. Visionary ! fanciful ! im
practical ! The occupation of dreamers, enthu
siasts, and fanatics ! Aha ! Did I not tell you
that we need elevation ? How can any, how dare
any, prate thus of our faith ?
Hearken to the truth! If we need health, it
is perfect health, and that forever! If we need
genius, it is perfect genius, and that forever! If
we need learning, it is perfect learning, and that
forever ! If we need eloquence, or pleasure, or
fame, or power, or wealth, or rank, or office, —
whatever we need, it implies constitutional and
conditional perfection, and that forever !
Let me speak for you, one voice for humanity.
I need a perfect soul. I need a perfect body, to
contain, identify, and obey my soul. I need a
perfect home. I need a perfect society. I need
perfect employments. I need a perfect govern
ment. I need the fulness of eternal life, with
God, in heaven. I need the attainment of my
true destiny; to stand, as a perfect man, before
the perfect God, acknowledged as His child, His
image, and His heir.
The Son of God knew this need, and therefore

WORDS OF CHRIST. 341
became the Son of man, that He might supply it.
Therefore He appeared as the young Galilean car
penter, despised and rejected of men, but loved
and accepted of the Father, making peace by the
blood of the cross. Therefore, already overlook
ing the place of His crucifixion, He uttered the
memorable prediction, "Heaven and earth shall
pass away, bid my words shall not pass away!"
His words are "words of pardon, words of purity,
words of triumph over death, words pertaining to
the resurrection of the dead and the inheritance
of life everlasting. Did the stones of the Temple
understand Him ? Did the palaces of Jerusalem
catch His meaning? Did the mountains around
the city, and the sky above it, startle at the
sound? Did heaven and earth, anywhere or in
any way, show the slightest consciousness of His
utterance ? Senseless, all senseless, utterly sense
less, these are the things that pass away. But some
thing was there, nobler than all these, — something
destined to outlast all these ; to flourish only the
more, and still more forever, when heaven and
earth shall vanish like the dream of a night. I
mean the immortal soul ! Jesus of Nazareth, the
Son of God, the Saviour and Sovereign of the
world, committed His words of redeeming and

342 THE imperishable and saving
sanctifying truth to the immortal soul of man,
and therefore in form, as well as in essence and
authority, they remain imperishable.
And so, my friends, in conclusion, I this day
commit these words to your immortal souls, that,
by God's blessing, they may abide with you in
saving virtue forever. Only four months ago, by
these same fingers, the eyes of my dear little
Jessie were closed in death. That was a more
important event to me than the rise, progress,
and fall of a thousand empires. Pity me, — oh,
pity me ! I speak not for myself alone, but for
all humanity, — one voice for humanity. Think
of your own homes; of those you love, and have
loved, and love only the more in death. We are
all alike in these relations. And where is our
hope of reunion with the lost? Ah, never would
the Lord Jesus have uttered the words of the text
had He contemplated merely a series of social
changes. But He knew and sought our true in
terest. He fulfilled His humble ministry, and
suffered and died that He might secure for us
entire and eternal personal redemption, — an ele
vation above all earthly things, and the enjoy
ment of the fulness of His grace and glory in
heaven. Let us cherish His spirit and imitate

WORDS OF CHRIST. 343
His example. Let us take due advantage of His
mediation, and humble ourselves before God in
all penitence and faith, that in due time we, with
Him, may be truly and forever exalted.*

* This last paragraph is an effort to recover the substance, at
least, of a purely extempore close, — a half-restrained yielding to
natural impulses in hope of spiritual profit.

30

ADDRESS,

Delivered in the Hall of the House of Representatives, on the Day
of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer, Friday, January
1, 1861.

I. — THE OCCASION.
On this day of national humiliation, fasting,
and prayer, recommended by the President and
accepted by the people, I desire, from this of
ficial position, to address to my countrymen, with
equal frankness and reverence, a few words, in
the name and by the blessing of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to whom be
all glory, as it was in the beginning, is now, and
ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
Two months ago, the Governors of our States,
with unexampled richness of occasion and unani
mity of grateful joy, invited their fellow-citizens
to unite in the celebration of a day of thanks
giving and praise. Then there was no section of
the sky, suspended over any section of the globe,
344

ADDRESS. 345
within whose cloudless horizon lay such a do
main of grandeur, beauty, plenty, and peace; or
such a society of personal, domestic, civil, and
religious freedom, wisdom, purity, power, and
glory; as glittered upon the vision of men, and
saints, and angels, and Christ, and of God Him
self, the Father of all, within the golden circle of
the American Union. It might well have been
anticipated that, on the opening of the appointed
and hallowed festival, there would go up, through
the serene and benignant brightness, to the very
throne and heart of the Highest, such a concert of
hallelujahs as no nation on earth ever offered be
fore. But was it so ? Alas ! though the day was
so fair, and the feast so bountiful, and so many di
vided families re-collected in old homesteads, and
the laugh of childhood was clear as the tinkling
of a cymbal, and the songs of youths and maidens
were merry as the chimes of a wedding, still,
among all the mature and thoughtful and over
all the elders of the land, there was a chilling
gloom of shame, sorrow, and fear, and in all the
temples of religion the cheerful tributes for Di
vine mercy in the past were checked, if not sub
dued, by lamentations over present human folly,
and deprecations of future wrath and woe.
And what now? Two weeks after Thanks-

346 ADDRESS.
giving, another proclamation was heard, — not
made by a Governor and limited to a State, but
proceeding from the President and extending
"throughout the Union." "Numerous appeals"
had been made to him, "by pious and patriotic
associations and citizens, in view of the present
distracted and dangerous condition of our coun
try, to recommend that a day be set apart for
Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer," and, "in com
pliance with their request, and (his) own sense of
duty," he designated this day, "Friday, the 4th
day of January, 1861, for this purpose."
Marvellous revolution! Hark! " The Union
of the States is at the present moment threatened
with alarming and immediate danger!" Two
months ago, how different! Again: "Panic and
distress of a fearful character prevail throughout
the land!" Two months ago, how different!
Again: "Our laboring population are without
employment, and consequently deprived of the
means of earning their bread!" Two months
ago, how different! Again : "Indeed, hope seems
to have deserted the minds of men. All classes
are in a state of confusion and dismay, and the
wisest counsels of our best and purest men are
wholly disregarded !" From all this, how differ
ent, only two months ago !

ADDRESS. 347
And so, in solemn haste, we are turned back to
"the God of our fathers," as our only "resort for
relief" "from the awful effects of our crimes and
follies." Instead of coming for thanksgiving, —
though we have still infinitely more to be thank
ful for than we are worthy to enjoy, — we come in
self-abasement, with self-affliction, and to pour out
our souls in most penitent and earnest supplica
tion. Well may we thus come ; for, this day,
there is no section of the sky, suspended over
any section of the globe, within whose clouded,
flashing, and muttering horizon such scenes are
witnessed of ingratitude toward God, disparage
ment of blessings, dishonor of national and uni
versal brotherhood, intent madness of fanaticism
and pride, and terrific imminence of all possible,
unspeakable, and perhaps endless evils, as those
whieh disgrace and threaten to destroy, from
centre to circumference, in sight of all mankind,
this same American Union.
Let us humble ourselves, is the exhortation of
our Chief Magistrate; let us confess our sins;
let us implore the removal of false pride; let us
beseech God to restore friendship and good will;
to save us from the horrors of civil war, and not
desert us, but "remember us as He did our fa
thers in the darkest days of the Revolution, and

348 ADDRESS.
preserve our Constitution and our Union, the
works of their hands, for ages yet to come."
Amen ! and let all the people say, Amen !
II. — THE ANTI-CHRISTS OF THE AGE.
But, just here, I come to a more timely, more
important, and most imperative duty. Some
may regard it as a divergence from the proprie
ties of the occasion. But I know that it is not.
I know that the day, the place, the interests of
the auditory, and of the outer auditory, even
though it be of the continent or the world, de
mand such an utterance. In making it, I only
attempt, by gracious assistance, to reach
"The height of this great argument,
And justify the ways of God to men."
See! Now, as of old, "there are many Anti
christs in the world:" persons, parties, powers;
infidel, artistic, scientific, philosophic, economic,
— from the merest skeptics to the sheerest deists,
atheists, and anti-theists, — these, with their inven
tions, theories, systems, and instruments of influ
ence. Constitutionally, educationally, by proud
and vain self-culture, and by the clique venom
of mutual flattery and impious pretension, these
enemies of God and man, taken just as they
stand, in sum total of life, are haughty, con-

ADDRESS. 349
temptuous, narrow-minded, ignorant, shallow to
simple shimmering, incapable of appreciating or
even apprehending the highest truth; blind, deaf,
dumb, thoughtless, and heartless to the whole
spiritual universe, and yet captivated by innu
merable brilliant but deceptive idealities, hallu
cinations of super-loftiness, with all manner of
unequalled sublimities and elegancies of intellec
tual and moral contemplation. These are the
Anti-Christs. They do not know Christ. They
despise Him. They hate Him. They oppose
Him. They say, — Any thing but Christ ! I need
not call them fools. But one who was inspired
of God did style them fools, and therefore, on
Divine authority, which is decisive, they are
fools. These Anti-Christs, like their master, are imi
tators, — meagre and miserable imitators. Reject
ing Christ's redemption, they fashion a substitute.
Redemption? Certainly. What! human perfec
tibility true? Unquestionably. And actual per
fection in prospect? Most assuredly. In a word,
say they, we too have an Evangel, a glorious
Evangel; and our Evangel is, "There's a good
time coming!" But where is it coming? To
all the world. And how will it be marked?
Well, the soil will be more fruitful, the air more

350. ADDRESS.
healthful, social conditions more equal, and life,
nearly or quite exempt from' disease, will be
greatly prolonged. And when shall this good
time come? Within the lapse of the innumera
ble and immeasurable ages. And by whose mi
raculous advent will it be introduced? Oh! we
have nothing to do with advents or miracles : we
have long since discarded the fables of our child
hood. It wiU happen so. It will be the natural
result of the common and magnificent progress
of our race. It will be the final triumph of the
march of mind. And so, to the demoniac music
of such a march as this, tramp, tramp, — tramp,
tramp, — the hosts of Anti-Christ push through
the darkness of time to the blackness of darkness
in eternity. Sin in the past, sin in the present,
and sin in the future ; sorrow in the past, sorrow
in the present, and sorrow in the future; death
in the past, death in the present, and death in
the future: sin, sorrow, and death, — all utterly
and forever unredeemed! This is "the good
time coming," the Evangel of Satan, the salva
tion of the world without a Saviour !
And so, at this stage of human progress, when
it is inquired, What does the world need? these
enthusiasts of superficial enchantments reply: —
Let Japan be thrown open to commerce; let

ADDRESS. 351
China dust her buttons at the feet of the allied
barbarians ; let Russia annex Turkey ; let France
annex Syria; let England annex Egypt; let Hun
gary humble Austria; and let the unity of Italy
be completed by the subjugation of Venetia and
the submission of Rome. But is this what the
world needs ?
And just so at home ! Here, therefore, under
all this pressure of the burden of national humi
liation, fasting, and prayer, in the very crisis of
our civil destiny, I justify this pause, this broader
view, this introduction and consideration of inte
rests still superior, and infinitely superior, to
those which we deplore as so awfully imperilled.
Hear me, therefore, this day, 0 my fellow-men,
fellow-citizens, fellow-Christians ! hear me this
day, if ye never hear me again, and remember
my teaching of this hour, if all my other teach
ing shall be forgotten forever. Especially, ye
disciples of Anti-Christ, listen this once to one
of Christ's disciples, — a disciple not without
hope, however unworthy, — listen and think, if
ye can think, and feel, if ye can feel, and pray,
even though ye never prayed before, that ye may
think wisely, feel truly, and after all be saved.
What, then, do we need? Does the Highest
behold, from His throne in heaven, that this day

352 ADDRESS.
is observed with due sincerity and solemnity
throughout all our land? Is our humiliation
acceptable? our fasting acceptable? our prayer
acceptable? Are all our exercises acceptable,
through Jesus Christ our Lord? And is the
heart of our Father moved in our behalf, and
does He incline to answer our petitions ? Then
lift up thy hoary hairs, thou aged and anxious
President ! Lift up your heads, ye Governors of
all our States ! And ye, O prostrate people ! North,
South, East, and West, arise, and stand in the pre
sence of God, and receive His blessing.
Let the "distracted and dangerous condition
of the country" be suddenly changed into its
former estate of harmony and peace. Let the
"Union of the States" be recovered and con
firmed. Let the "panic and distress" subside.
Let our "laboring population" abound in work
and wages. Let the "false pride of opinion" be
removed. Let "friendship and good will" be
restored. Let the "horrors of civil war" be
averted. Let God "remember us as He did our
fathers in the darkest days of the Revolution, and
preserve our Constitution and our Union, the
works of their hands, for ages yet to come." Let
all we are thus prompted to pray for be granted
unto us. Nay, more; being thus reconciled to

ADDRESS. 353
God and to each other, renewed in all our pros
perities, and exalted among the nations to greater
power and glory than ever, let the admiring and
sympathetic authorities of Europe — Denmark,
Sweden, and Russia ; Portugal, Spain, and France ;
Holland, Great Britain, and all others concerned
— commend to our protection and resign to our
rule all their American possessions ; and Mexico,
Central America, and even Hayti, learn to con
fide in us, and claim our kindness and care, until,
from the smallest mission in Greenland to the
rudest fort near Behring's Straits, and all around
by the shining isles of the Gulf and the smoking
mountains of the Isthmus, the whole northern
continent, with all its appurtenances, from the
Bermudas to the Sandwich Islands, shall have be
come ours, — peacefully, honorably, happily ours,
— with no desire or dream of secession or dis
union within all its bounds. What now ? Is this
what we need? Would this be enough for us?
Could this satisfy us ?
Ay, ay ! shout the Anti-Christs. That is what
we need ! That would be enough for us ! That
well might satisfy us, whether God or man should
work the change !
But cease your shouting, ye witless Infidels !
Be dumb as death, ye silly Anti-Christs ! This is

354 ADDRESS.
not what we need. This would not be enough for
us. This could never satisfy us. All this, and
infinitely more of the same sort, were "nothing,
less than nothing, and vanity," in comparison
with our true want. " For what shall it profit a
man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own
soul ? Or, what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul?" A man is more than South Carolina.
A man is more than the United States. A man
is more than the whole world. Since South Caro
lina determined to secede, how many hundreds
of her citizens have died ! Since the President
issued his call for this day of national humilia
tion, fasting, and prayer, how many thousands
of the citizens of the United States have died !
Since the report of our dissensions went forth to
other lands, how many myriads of mankind, in
all the world, have died! And, before these dis
sensions shall be settled, how many millions
more — some here, some there, some everywhere
— will have died ! What did they want ? What
do their survivors want? What, as one with
them, do we want ? A change in the civil gov
ernment? or, the perpetuation ofthe government
as it is ? Alas ! for the Anti-Christs !
And so it has been for six thousand years!
The earth, smitten, ravaged, broken, parcelled

ADDRESS. 355
out among the nations; the nations, relatively,
increasing and diminishing; empires, rising and
falling; governments, forming, flourishing, fail
ing; but, under all circumstances, at all times,
and in all places, man — sinning, sorrowing, dying !
Such a world, O ye Anti-Christs ! if purposely
made so, and hopelessly kept so, were a shame,
a disgrace, a curse, to its Maker. And do ye still
bespeak for it the innumerable and immeasur
able ages? Aha! God knows better and will do
better! There is a Being, hidden from us, though not
we from Him, clothed in our own nature per
fected and glorified, sitting and reigning at the
centre and zenith of this universal circle of light
and life, of whom it is declared: "In the begin
ning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God." And again, "In the
beginning God created the heavens and the
earth:" for " all things were made by Him; and
without Him was not any thing made that was
made :" over whose creations, all perfect like
Himself, "the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy." This is He
"whose goings forth have been from of old, from
the days of eternity;" even "Jesus, the Christ,
the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever:"
31

356 ADDRESS.
into whose hands the Father has committed "all
power in heaven and in earth;" "in whom dwell
eth all the fulness of the Godhead, bodily;"
"whom, having not seen, we love; in whom,
though now we see Him not, yet believing, we
rejoice with joy that is unspeakable and full of
glory, receiving the end of our faith, even the
salvation of our souls;" and waiting for the end
of our hope, also, even the salvation of our
bodies, in the beauty and glory of the resurrec
tion. From the fall of Adam until now, not a
year, or day, or hour, or moment has passed, but
His eye has watched our planet, and His heart
been intent on the redemption of our race. By
the sufferings of His first advent He made an
atonement for sin itself, and by the miracles of
the second He will set us free from its conse
quences. At the close of His last prophetic in
terview with His latest surviving apostle, He de
clared: — "Surely I come, quickly; Amen:" to
which the apostle replied, in behalf of the church
and the world, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus !"
I profess no skill, or assurance, in determina
tion of prophetic times and seasons. I simply
wait on the Lord. Nevertheless, I cannot but
understand that we are now nearly eighteen cen
turies nearer the fulfilment of the promise than

ADDRESS. 357
when it was given. Neither can I forget that
many lines of prophecy, relating to the same
great event, appear to converge about the present
era. And neither can I be unobservant of the
facts, that the world is now open from pole to
pole, — that the Gospel has already performed its
office, to a great extent, as a witness for Christ
among all nations, — and that the condition of
nature and society, everywhere, seems to invite
Divine intervention for the resurrection of the
dead, the transformation of the living, the judg
ment of all, the renovation of heaven and earth,
the establishment of everlasting righteousness,
and the universal development and triumph of
the kingdom of glory and of God.
All we can say, is, — and this must be said with
infinite reverence, — "the sooner, the better:" the
sooner Christ's time comes, the better for all who
wait for His coming. If, amidst the conflict of
empires, the revolution of kingdoms, the crum
bling of republics, and the consequent amazement
and alarm of all mankind, we seem to hear a
repetition of the promise, as just about to be
realized, — "Surely I come quickly!" — let our
hearts leap within us as we answer, "Even so
come, Lord Jesus!"
Here is our want, — Christ! " Thou, O Christ!

358 ADDRESS.
art all we want!" He, essentially and truly, whe
ther known or unknown, is "the desire of all na
tions." Let the Anti-Christs say what they will,
the only hope of the world is in Jesus Christ. 1
shall gain my chief object, if I can only persuade you
duly to remember this. Whatever personal dangers,
or social dangers, may at any time press upon us,
— however we may humble ourselves before God,
and fast, and pray for deliverance from them;
and even though our prayers be heard and an
swered, and the dangers whieh threatened us
be removed, — still, in all conditions and at all
times, our own supreme and most urgent want,
and that of the whole world quite as well, is —
CHRIST — Christ's person, Christ's spirit,
Christ's advent, Christ's miracles, Christ's
kingdom, Christ's government, Christ's people,
and Christ's perfect and everlasting salva
tion ! III. — THE national crisis.
Now, therefore, having borne this humble testi
mony in behalf of our highest interests, I return,
for a brief interval, to this solemn crisis in our
civil affairs.
If what I have hitherto said be true, the best
condition in which any nation can be placed is

ADDRESS. 359
that in which the people, personally and socially,
have the best opportunity and facilities to under
stand, appreciate, obey, enjoy, and extend our
Holy Religion.
Here, therefore, I affirm, that — since the hour
in which the Lord Jesus declared, "And I, if I
be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me," — His cross has never been planted in
any land, or His redeeming attraction exerted
upon any people, whose advantages, in these
highest of all relations, bore any comparison
with our own.
The only difficulty in demonstrating this, is the
want of time. But you do not need the demon
stration. While I speak, the globe revolves in
the light of thought, and you see that there is no
other land like ours, — no land at once so ample,
so varied, and yet so completely one, — no land so
interlocked, north and south, through the whole
range of both coasts, by indestructible mountains,
— no land so interlaced, on both shores, and all
over the interior, by innumerable rivers, ever
lengthening their matchless courses by endless
curves, as though they would leave no ravine
unclaimed, and no hill unclasped, in all the
common heritage, — no land so washed all around
by lakes, gulfs, and oceans, sharply defining its
31*

360 ADDRESS.
own bounds, but still holding it adjacent or oppo
site, open and accessible, to all the world besides,
— no land, in a word, where the lay of the soil is
so like the lift of the sky, immense, unbroken,
and inseparable forever. Inseparable forever !
What ! Would any divide it ? Let them make
the Mississippi a hundred miles wide and a thou
sand fathoms deep, — an impassable line of per
petual storms. Would any divide it ? Let them
turn the Alleghanies and the Rocky Mountains
east and west, and unite them in a Missouri com
promise that cannot be abolished. "He that sit
teth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall
have them in derision." As easily might they
fracture the firmament from sunrise to sunset,
and from the north star to the equator. And so
with our people. They, too, while I speak, ex
pand before you in the clear thought-light. The
cross of Christ has drawn them together from all
countries, and made them one. In the begin
ning a few Italians, a few Spaniards, a few Eng
lishmen, a few Frenchmen, a few Germans, a few
Swedes ; but now, more than thirty millions, re
presenting nearly every nation under heaven !
In their little, isolated, native states and pro
vinces, they lived side by side for centuries, —
estranged, embittered, hostile ; diverse in Ian-

ADDRESS. 361
guage, government, religion ; in arts, customs,
and usages; shut up, apparently, to the bloody
necessity of everlasting strife. But here, on this
vast, and equal, and happy area, — free from local
traditions of prejudice, hatred, and war, — they
have already mingled, and are still more per
fectly mingling, in one homogeneous mass, in
comparable in all the history of man. Remem
ber, they have not been driven hither, but drawn.
By the attractions of religious liberty, and of that
true civil liberty which flows from it, and by the
long reserved plenty and quiet of a natural heri
tage worthy of both, Christ has drawn them
hither. They have come, not as exiles, but as
immigrants. They have come of grateful choice.
They have come with impulsive admiration.
They have come with tender sympathies and
glowing affections. They have come on pur
pose to love us, and to be one with us. And so,
their native lands, and governments, and govern
ment-religions, lose their interest ; and, little by
little, their languages decline, and their habits
become assimilated to our own; and presently
our homes are their homes, and our churches
their churches, and our States their States ; and
we are all, and only and all we desire to be, men,
Americans, and Christians, — the best situated of

362 ADDRESS.
all the nations on earth for the performance of
the highest duties and the attainment of the high
est destiny of our race.
And here let me proclaim anew our one great
est glory. I remember, indeed, that we are fond
of boasting, — too fond of boasting. We have
many apologies for it, but no sufficient apology.
Perhaps this is one of the chief sins, in confession
of which we should this day humble ourselves
before God. And yet, the one great glory to
which I refer can never be remembered, and
ought never to be remembered, without the most
earnest rejoicing. The materialist boasts of the
mineral, vegetable, and animal opulence of the
country. The intellectualist boasts of its arts and
sciences, its literature and philosophy. The phi
lanthropist boasts of its institutions of benevo
lence. The statesman boasts of its Constitution
and laws, its freedom, equality, and power. And
the religionist boasts of its churches and societies,
and all its endowments of piety and zeal. But it
is not by any or all of these distinctions that we
are elevated to the best position on earth for the
understanding, appreciation, and practice, the en
joyment and extension, of our Holy Religion.
We owe this to one distinction alone. I mean,
the Bible, — the free and open Bible, — the uni-

ADDRESS. 363
versally circulated Bible, — the commonly ac
cepted, confessedly supreme, and divinely authori
tative Bible, — the only light in the gloom which
now environs us, the only hope in the despair
which presses on us ! When I speak thus of the
Bible, I do not idolize a book, — but allude, of
course, to its living and active connections with
the omnipotent agency of the Spirit of God, and
the inspirations of that Spirit, as witnessed in the
noblest motives, energies, and exertions of man
kind. Let the materialist go South with all his
natural treasures. Can he buy back' affection,
union, and peace ? Alas ! pride is too strong for
him. Let the intellectualist try it, and they will
burn his books and break his instruments. Let
the philanthropist try it, and he will need a hun
dred philanthropists to return him safe home.
Let the statesman try it, and they will scoff at
the Declaration of Independence, and trample
the Constitution of the Union under their feet.
Let the religionist try it, and he will find the
fragments of broken churches and societies in all
his path, his influence forfeited forever, and his
former brethren praying against him, that God
may confound his counsels and prevent the suc
cess of his devices.
But, thank God! from the centre to the cir-

364 ADDRESS.
cumference of our confederacy, the Bible is still
supreme. Its meaning may be disputed, but its
divine authority is admitted. It is absolutely
and inviolably sacred. No man, or set of men,
would dare to add one word to it, or take one
word from it. Here it stands, — the Book of
Christ ; the Brightness of His Glory ; the Express
Image of His Person; the Visible and Audible
Angel of His Power; the Higher Law of the Na
tion, and the Highest Law of the World !
The South reads it historically; and, as though
there were no progress, sanctions the present by
the past. The North reads it prophetically; and,
as though all progress were consummated, de
mands of the present the improvements of the
future. Both parties mistake its current appli
cations. Oh, when I think of the inexhaustible
and yet constantly accessible intelligence of this
Book; its sublime and comprehensive philosophy
of God and man; of Creation, Providence, and
Redemption; of Nature, Grace, and Glory; of
Earth and Heaven; of Time and Eternity; its
innumerable adaptations to aU classes and con
ditions of mankind; and its invariable tendency
to enlighten, purify, elevate, and, in every way,
save and bless persons and families, States and
Nations; I am ready to exclaim, — Withhold your

ADDRESS. 305
reckless hands, and spare, 0 spare, our Union, if
only for this unequalled privilege, that all our
millions, over all our continent, with none to hin
der, but all to help, may study together, and yet
understand alike, and then exemplify alike, the
love and truth and purity of God, as revealed in
the Holy Bible !
And can it be, that South Carolina is deter
mined to destroy this Union? And can it be,
that other States encourage her rebellion ? And
can it be, that, suddenly as the evil has come
upon us, it is already too late by any means to
arrest it ?
And now shall our enemies rejoice over us ?
Our enemies ! Who are they ? Where are they ?
By the blessing of God, the world is full of our
friends ! By the greatness of our Union, we have
become a chief power among the nations; and by
the fairness of our conduct, we have won their
respect and affection. There was a time when
Columbus vainly sought, along our southern bor
ders, the golden roofs of Zipangu; but now, by
a voyage three times as long, the Princes of Zi
pangu, excited by its fame and confiding in its
honor, come to pay their respects to the richer
world of Columbus. There was a time, and
a second time, when Great Britain sent fleets

366 ADDRESS.
and armies to subdue our Colonies and ravage
our States; but now she too sends her Prince
and his train to mingle as equals with our people,
and to stand with bare brows, and tearful eyes,
and reverent hearts, at the hallowed tomb of
Washington. No, no, — even China and Japan
will mourn for the rent in the flowery flag!
Even Africa, far from indulging a feeling of re
venge, will stretch forth her hands unto God,
and pray for us! And as for the nations of
Europe, gradually changed, even more than we
hoped, by the grandeur of Our progress and the
value of our friendship, from revilers to admirers,
— identified with us by ceaseless immigration and
interchange of travel and intelligence; inspired
by our spirit, and inclined rather to imitate our
example than desire our injury, — England and
France, Switzerland and Germany, Italy and
Hungary, and many a generous and sympathetic
power, will weep over us ! But, here at home,
how shall we restrain our own tears, or who shall
bind up our broken hearts? Alas for us! "0
that my head were waters, and mine eyes a foun
tain of tears, that I might weep day and night
over the slain of the daughter of my people !"
Ah! prophets of Judah and Israel, little did ye
dream of our greater grief! Ye only lamented

ADDRESS. 367
the desolation of Zion, and of the hills and vales
around it. But here is a vast and varied world,
which Jehovah reserved through thousands of
years, and has now disclosed, enriched and
adorned, as the crowning beauty and glory and
wonder of all time ! And shall such a heritage
as this be sundered and destroyed? Clasp thy
broken staff with shame, O flag of stars ! super
seded and dishonored by the pitiful palmetto !
Start from thine eyrie, thou eagle of the morn
ing! shake from thy pinions the dews of the
night, and relume thy vision in the splendor
of the sunrise, — lest the rattlesnake, crawling
up the cliff, shall steal on thy slumber and
strike thee unaware. God be merciful unto
us! — and has it really come to this? Vacant
seats in the Senate; vacant seats in the House;
vacant seats in the Cabinet; resignations in the
Army; resignations in the Navy; resignations in
the Judiciary; a secession convention; a seces
sion ordinance; a new oath of allegiance; Sab
bath sessions; secret sessions; commissioners
from a foreign State ; warlike preparations ; sei
zure of forts and arsenals; seizure of betrayed
ships; obstruction of the port-channels; slaves
throwing up earthworks along all the coasts;
freemen leaving their homes, camping out on the
32

368 ADDRESS.
wintry strand, marching and counter-marching,
in instant readiness for bloodiest conflict ! How
shall we account for this universal enthusiasm of
utter madness ?
Slavery! The liberty of twenty-six millions
imperilled by the servitude of four! It is said
that the South loves slavery, and that the North
abhors it : that the South is determined to main
tain it forever, and that the North is resolved to
abolish it as soon as possible. It is an "irre
pressible conflict!" The States must be all slave
States, or all free States./ Therefore, the North
hates the South, and the South hates the North.
We are mortal enemies !
It is false! all false! utterly false! In the
name of God and man, I pronounce it essentially
and eternally false. There is not now, there
never was, in all the history of the world, an
equal territory, with an equal population, so di
verse in origin and in minor interests, where, be
cause of the attraction of the supreme interests
of religious and civil liberty, and of all forms of
material prosperity, the people have so perfectly
melted into one loving mass, as within the limits
of this glorious and blessed Union. The country ¦
is too great for us. We do not comprehend it.
We must rise higher and look wider. We have

ADDRESS. 369
mistaken the noise of sectional fanaticism for the
common feeling and judgment of the mighty but
silent nation. This day the whole land is in sur
prise and astonishment. I do not mean among
our sensation cities, always excited and multiply
ing excitements ; but hundreds and thousands of
miles away, among the honest and quiet millions
of the interior.
Hark! Does this sound like hatred? "Our
Southern brethren are in arms ! South Carolina
has seceded. Other States are about to follow.
They think we hate them, and are determined to
oppress them. But it is not so. Are they not,
equally with ourselves, men, Americans, and
Christians? We love them, — purely and fer
vently love them. What do they want? Slavery
in the States? Let them have it: not because we
approve it, but because it is their Providential
allotment, for the time being, and they alone are
responsible for it. What do they want? Slavery
in New Mexico ? Let them try it : if they fail,
the fault is their own, not ours. What do they
want? The enforcement of the fugitive-slave
law? This is the duty of the General Govern
ment; let it be performed. What do they
want ? The repeal of the personal-liberty bills ?
If the States were ill-advised in their passage, let

370 ADDRESS.
them be repealed. What do they want? The
privilege of slave-service at the national capital,
and in their current transits through the land?
Let them have it, without molestation, at their
own unavoidable risk. What do they want?
Any thing less than a sacrifice of principle, con
science, and honor; any thing reasonable, proper,
and expedient; any thing that God may command
and humanity yield ? Let them have it, and our
true love with it, and our prayers with our love,
that the God of the Bible may overrule all events
for His own glory, and the welfare of the nation
and the world!" Does all that sound like hate?
Pause, then, ye States preparing for secession !
Reconsider thy course, thou lonely State that
hast seceded! Come back, South Carolina!
come back to the circle of honest and earnest
affection; come back, with God's blessing; come
back, with the nation's welcome; come back in
peace ; come back before a single drop of blood
shall be shed! Blessed be James Buchanan! if
only for this one thing: that he will not, if he
can help it, consent to the shedding of a single
drop of blood. If he cannot help it, then be it
remembered, that the Ruler "beareth not the
sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a
revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth

ADDRESS. 371
evil." Let his skirts be clear. Let the skirts of
the Army and Navy be clear. Let the skirts of
the still United States be clear. But, O Lord
Jesus, thou who hast promised to." come quickly,"
come now. At least, in all the healing love and
pity of Thy Holy Spirit, come now. "Even so,
come, Lord Jesus!" So shall all nations praise
Thee, and, looking from afar, exulting in our
restored, confirmed, and perfected Union, "Be
hold!" they will cry, as with one heart, and one
voice, and one hope, "Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity !"
" The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Amen."

;;2'<

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.

A SHORT SERMON
Delivered in the National Hall of Representatives, Sabbath morning,
July 28, 1861.

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there
is no power but of God : the powers that be are ordained of God."
—Romans xiii. 1.
I do not intend, on this occasion, a long,
formal, or elaborate discourse. But I desire,
with the blessing of God, to state, clearly and
impressively, certain elemental truths of our
Holy Religion, important to be remembered al
ways, but especially so in the current crisis of
our affairs.
By the "higher powers," the text plainly al
ludes to political sovereignty and its authorized
representatives. Political sovereignty is not of
human orisrin. It is a divine institution.

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 373
In this country, we say much of State sove
reignty and of United States sovereignty. But,
strictly speaking, our sovereignty is the sove
reignty of the people. The people of the United
States existed before the States were united. The
people of every State existed before the State
itself. When, in the course of God's providence,
the due time came, and, with it, the due natural
and social conditions, He brought the people to
these shores as dependent colonists. Again, in
due time, by the Revolution, He made them in
dependent, — a simple, elemental, popular, sove
reign power. In this capacity, He committed to
them two great trusts, — the construction of the
two great institutions, without which no com
munity can perpetuate a prosperous existence, —
one civil, the other religious ; one the State, the
other the Church. In the. execution of these
trusts, there was no external human authority to
control or direct them. So far as other men, on
all the earth and under the whole heavens, were
concerned, they were absolutely free, — were at
liberty to do all they would and could. God vir
tually said to them, " Behold, my people ! the
continent is before you. I made it for you, and
you for it. Here none shall molest or make you
afraid. Build ye a State for yourselves. Build

374 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
ye a Church for yourselves. Build ye a State
and Church worthy your own dignity and des
tiny, worthy the imitation of the world, and
worthy my progressive and redeeming dispensa
tions." But, while thus set free from human authority,
were they left destitute of Divine guidance ? Not
at all. There was a visible representative of Di
vine sovereignty among them, commissioned and
qualified to superintend and modify the perform
ance of their appropriate work, and to which they
humbly acknowledged their own sovereignty to
be subordinate and subservient. I mean, of
course, God's book, — the Holy Bible. As the
people existed before the Union, before the
States, and even before the Colonies, so the
Bible existed before the people, — thousands of
years before them; the angel in the cloud, to all
the tribes of their ancestry, in all their wander
ings through the wilderness, from the earliest
recorded ages of time.
"What then? By the instrumentality of the
Bible, God prompted them to come hither.
When they came, they brought the Bible with
them. It was their highest distinction, their
richest treasure, and their purest joy. It was
to them, as it is to us, or ought to be to us, the

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 375
highest law in all the world of the Highest
Power over all worlds. Their twofold obliga
tion was, to. found the State and found the
Church, on the Bible ; to make their State a
Bible-State and their Church a Bible-Church.
This was not because any human authority had
any right or power to command them to do so ;
but simply because God Himself, by His mar
vellous providence, so commanded them. No
human authority would even have attempted
such intervention. All human authorities had
more or less dishonored the Bible. It was held
under the foot of the State, and under the thumb
of the Church. Therefore God, with a high hand
and an outstretched arm, had conducted His
people from the Old World to the New. It was
He who thus exalted the Bible in its new sphere,
and from the beginning exacted obedience to its
precepts. He made His people free on purpose
that they might thus honor His book.
But what is the history, what are the facts?
Did they build up a Bible-State ? Did they build
up a Bible-Church? Is the Bible supreme, this
day, in both State and Church ? If not, then I
insist upon it that the people have been, and yet
are, unfaithful to their trusts. And, if unfaith
ful, then I further insist upon it that it is not too

376 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
late to repent, not too late to reform; and that
it is still their imperative duty to fulfil the task
at first assigned them, — to conform both State
and Church to the doctrines and morals of the
Bible. If any thing be plain, this gradation of sove
reignty is plain. The first sovereignty in our
land is the sovereignty of the Bible, — represent
ing the sovereignty of God. The second is the
sovereignty of the people, — representing the sove
reignty of the Bible. The third, in view of supe
rior numbers, though inferior interests, is the
sovereignty of the State, — representing the sove
reignty of the people in secular affairs. And the
fourth, relating to smaller numbers but greater
interests, is the sovereignty of the Church, — re
presenting the sovereignty of the people in reli
gious affairs. Below all these are the divisions
and diversities of popular sovereignty, exhibited
by particular States and Churches, and all minor
voluntary social institutions. %
It is greatly to be regretted that this grada
tion of sovereignty is not more generally under
stood, remembered, and practically acknowledged.
There are men among us who deny, or doubt, or
in some way habitually ignore, the sovereignty
of the Bible, — as representative of God. In like

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 377
manner, they deny, or doubt, or ignore, the sove
reignty of the people, — as representative of the
Bible. And so, coming within the State sphere,
as though there were no God and were no Bible,
they treat the sovereignty of the people, in secu
lar affairs, as a natural right, a birthright, a right
to be exercised without responsibility except to
the will of a majority of their own number as ex
pressed by a legal vote, or the will of a minority
as enforced by revolutionary violence. There
fore we so commonly hear it said, by zealous but
ill-informed advocates of national sovereignty,
that the Constitution of the United States is the
supreme law of the land: as though this were an
absolute and not a relative truth; as though it
required no qualification; as though there were
nothing beyond and above it; as though the
national Constitution were the highest symbol of
popular sovereignty; as though there were no
other to compare with it; as though it had be
come unchangeable; as though it had got to
be superior to the people themselves, and were
wholly independent of the Bible, and the God
of the Bible.
How strange all this is ! What is the national
Constitution? It is one of the people's institu
tions ; one of their political institutions ; and their

378 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
highest political institution: so much, and no
more. Hark! "We, the people of the United
States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro
vide for the common defense, promote the gene
ral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and esta
blish this Constitution for the United States of
America." That is, this is one thing, and politi
cally the chief thing, that we, the people, choose
to do, in exercise of our sovereignty: not pre
senting it as an unchangeable instrument, but
providing for suitable amendments of it, and re
membering that the same sovereignty which now
ordains it will always remain superior to it, and
hold it in entire control.
But what are the relations of this Constitu
tion? Here it is, especially, that the want of
correct knowledge, or just appreciation of facts,
already alluded to, becomes painfully evident.
Hark again! "This Constitution, and the laws of
the United States which shall be made in pur
suance thereof, and all the treaties made, or
which shall be made, under the authority of the
United States, shall be the supreme law of the
land." Here the zealous advocates of absolute
constitutional supremacy are accustomed to stop.

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 379
The Constitution is the supreme law! This
sovereignty is the only sovereignty in the land!
Christians, Jews, infidels, men of the world, we,
in whole, are the people, and the national Con
stitution is our supreme law. Away with every
other! Away with the heretics who assert any
other ! We intend to abide by this alone, and be
governed by this alone. From all it prohibits,
we will carefully refrain ; but all it allows we will
do at our pleasure, and none shall hinder us. To
this extent, we are absolutely free. We confess
no higher responsibility.
Now, what nonsense all this is, and how un
speakably deplorable it is ! The sovereignty of
the national Constitution is not absolute, but rela
tive. It is only a midway sovereignty. Above it
are other sovereignties, to which it is subordi
nate; and below it are other sovereignties, which
are subordinate to it. The sovereignty of the
people themselves is above it, and the sove
reignty of the Bible is above the people, and
the sovereignty of God above the Bible. Why,
the relations of this constitutional sovereignty
are not left in doubt. They are plainly declared
in the very section a part of which I have just
cited. And what are they? Does the article,
after saying that this "shall be the supreme law
33

380 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
of the land," proceed thus: "And the judges in
every State shall be bound thereby," any thing
in the sovereignty of the people, or of the Bible,
or of God, "to the contrary notwithstanding"?
Not a word like it. These are superior relations,
— relations beyond and above it, over which it
has no control, but on which it is entirely de
pendent. The specified relations are, of course,
inferior ; and therefore the article reads thus :
"This Constitution, &c, shall be the supreme, law
of the land ; and the judges in every State shall
be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstand
ing." The article is directed, not against popu
lar sovereignty, or Bible sovereignty, or Divine
sovereignty; but against the monstrous error,
the awful heresy, the bloody dogma, as it has
turned out to be, of State sovereignty, — either in
opposition to, in secession from, or in rebellion
against, the sovereignty of the Union.
That was the design of our fathers. They
never dreamed of superseding the higher sove
reignties by this merely political national sove
reignty. When they had ordained and esta
blished the Constitution of the United States, they
regarded and confessed themselves as completely
subject to the Bible and the Bible's God as they

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 381
were before. Had it not been for the Bible, the
Constitution could never have been ordained and
established. If it embody true principles of hu
man rights, and sure promises of honorable per
petuity, its principles and promises are alike de
rived from the Bible. It has no value except as
the Bible sanctions it. And if, in any respect, it
is in conflict with the Bible, it should be made to
conform to it.
But now let us turn, for a little while, to the
Church sphere, — representing the sovereignty of
the people in religious affairs. Here we are at
once struck by a great difference between our
State and Church arrangements. We have even
a greater number of separate denominations or
churches than we have of individual States. But
we have no general union of churches, no general
ecclesiastical government, no common Christian
constitution, not even "Articles of Confedera
tion." Instead of a great national document,
commencing, — "We, the Christians of the United
States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish truth, insure tranquillity, provide for
common prosperity at home, promote the con
version of the world abroad, and secure the bless
ings of our Holy Religion to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitu-

382 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
tion for the United Churches of America:" instead
of any thing like this, and an article providing for
amendments of such constitution, and another de
claring it to be, under God and the Bible, the su
preme law of the Christians in the land, and that
the office-bearers in every church shall be bound
thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of
any church to the contrary notwithstanding: in
stead of all this, or any thing like it, we have a
promiscuous assemblage of separate and diverse
ecclesiastical sovereignties, not divided by State
or other territorial lines, but intermingling their
forces, interests, rivalries, and courtesies all over
the continent. Historically, the most of these,
and especially the most powerful of them, are
descendants of Old World colonists, with Old
World creeds, rituals, ordinances, and usages.
There has never been an American Ecclesias
tical Reorganization, to bring the churches into
closer conformity with the Bible and greater
unity and harmony among themselves. For
want of this, in my humble judgment, there has
been great loss of Christian influence.
But, without stopping to notice any supposed
imperfections, I wish to remark here that the
American Church, under God and the Bible, is
an institution of popular sovereignty as much as

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 383
the American State; that the great mass of its
members are evangelical Christians; that they
are the main dependence of the nation for all the
elements of moral and intellectual, if not, also,
even physical power; and that they deserve to be
better represented, and ought to be better repre
sented, and must be better represented, and when
they become fully awake to their powers and pri
vileges, and learn how to exercise and improve
them most efficiently, will be better represented
in the administration of State affairs, — which are
their own affairs just as much as church affairs
are their own. Pre-eminently they are the
people. The concentration of sovereignty is
within their circle. They hold it in their hands,
almost without knowing it, certainly without
rightly using it.
The theme is far, far too large and important
for such an occasion as this. I merely teach, as
already intimated, a brief primary lesson.
For instance, what is the Christian doctrine of
war? May the Church declare war, and prose
cute war? Not at all. May it even encourage
war? I doubt this, — as a direct measure. The
Church is a peace institution. It should preach
peace, and in every way promote and encourage
peace. The Church, so to speak, is, not the
33*

384 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
people's proper war organ. It was designed for
redeeming, and not destructive, purposes. But
they have a proper war organ. It is the State.
As citizens, they are joint possessors of State
power, and responsible for the exercise of it.
The State may declare war, and prosecute war.
But what is its justification ? May it commence
and carry on war at its own pleasure? Not at
all. It is the most solemn performance- of a
sacred ministerial office, and must be fulfilled in
the name and with the sanction of God. The
context illustrates the whole subject. Let me
read the text again, in its connection with sub
sequent verses : —
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers: for there
is no power but of God : the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power resisteth the ordi
nance of God ; and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation (or condemnation). For rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the
power ? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of
the same : for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But
if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the
sword in vain ; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to ex
ecute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs
be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
For, for this cause ye pay tribute also; for they are God's
ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render,
therefore, to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due ;
custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honor to whom
honor. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another ; for he
that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 385
In ordinary cases, — cases concerning a single
criminal, or a few criminals only, — war is not
necessary. Punishment of evil is easily accom
plished, under such circumstances, by ordinary
methods. But in extraordinary cases, — cases of
extended treason and all-threatening rebellion, —
war, in some form, becomes a necessity. Yet
the nature of the act remains the same. It is an
official duty. It is a ministerial punishment of
evil-doers. There is no pleasure in it on the part
of the magistrate, any more than there is on the
part of God, — that is, if the magistrate act in the
true spirit of his office. It is an awful, but im
perative, obligation, and derives all its propriety
and dignity from this fact. The more blood on
the sword, the more tears also ; and happy is the
day when its blade may be restored to its bright
ness and returned to its sheath.
What then ? If war is to be thus justified by
Christianity itself, as, for the time being, an in
dispensable State power and office, how shall it
be conducted? Who shall be chiefly represented
in its management? The worst part of our popu
lation ? wicked men ? ignorant men ? wild, rash,
and cruel men ? men who take pleasure in rapine
and violence? men who fight for the love of fight
ing, and care not what amount of distress they

386 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
create ? men who laugh at the Bible, and scoff at
God? Are they to be chiefly remembered and
respected by our authorities, and allowed to fill
our camps with profanity, Sabbath-breaking, in
temperance, and all manner of iniquity ? Surely
these are not the people. They are the rabble.
The great masses of evangelical Christians, and
all who sympathize with them in reverence of di
vine institutions, they are the people, the strength
and beauty and glory of the nation. They are to
be chiefly represented in the management of war,
as in all other connections ; the best part of our
population; good men; intelligent men ; prudent
men; just men; benevolent men; men who de
plore the necessity of war ; men who believe the
Bible and adore and worship God. They are to
be remembered and respected, and such a dis
cipline established and enforced in the council,
in the camp, and in the field, as they can approve
and sustain ; such a discipline as will preserve in
the army the highest moral tone, the majestic
sense of law, and the solemn and immovable
might of a good conscience.
There is no Sabbath in war. Who says so ? Has
God ever said so ? Does the Bible say so ? Do
the people say so? Does the Church, or even the
State, duly representing the people, say so ? Or

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 387
is it an unauthorized assumption, — an arbitrary
and infidel desecration ? The Jews regarded the
law of the Sabbath as prohibiting war. In their
later ages, indeed, they so construed it as to admit
the propriety of a defensive battle. And, so far as
I have noticed, they always made their defence
good. But an onset was not allowable on the
Sabbath. Neither, in my judgment, does Chris
tianity allow it. Nor can I hope for success
under such circumstances.
Our late battle was a Sabbath battle. It is said to
have been specially ordered so, to provide a spec
tacle for civilians who could most conveniently
attend that day ! Can this be true ? If so, who
can wonder at the result ?
Some forty regiments were there. Were there
forty chaplains also, representing the Christian
ministry of the country ? And were there hun
dreds or thousands of soldiers also, representing
the membership of the churches of the country ?
Why, then, was not the Christian sentiment of
the country remembered and respected? Was
that onset a work of necessity ? Not at all. Was
it a work of mercy ? Not at all. Rather, it was
a work of cruelty. The necessity was for rest, —
for sleep, — for food, — for religious instruction and
worship. Had the Sabbath been observed, as it

388 AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY.
ought to have been, in all probability, — that is, so
far as we can see and judge,— the result would
have been different. As it was, there was no de
feat, properly speaking. Never was greater bra
very exhibited, in the history of the world. And
victory was almost assured. But then, for wise
purposes doubtless, the innocent were allowed to
suffer for the guilty. Then came the punitive panic,
— the judicial disappointment. And the civilians,
for whom, it is said, the battle was ordered, be
came the instruments of overthrow. The " Na
tional Intelligencer" — perhaps the most trust
worthy of all journals, in an editorial, headed
"The Truth of History," issued on last Friday
— distinctly declares, "The panic, begun with some
amateur warriors, was communicated to the teamsters,
and affected only a portion of the troops, who had
been wearied by a ten hours' struggle without food
or refreshment oiany kind. The great body of the
army maintained good order."
Well would it have been for these civilians,
and for their country also, if, instead of attending
this Sabbath battle, they had been quietly assem
bled in the sanctuaries of the city, adoring and
worshipping God in the beauty of holiness. And
well would it have been for our army, as for our
country also, if that Sabbath had been kept as a

AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY. 389
holy day, throughout all the encampments ; if the
bodies of the soldiers had been refreshed by food
and rest, and their spirits refreshed by hymns and
prayers, and the thousand conscience-cheerers of
the Word of God.
If there were no commandment to remember
the Sabbath-day and keep it holy, the very
beauty of it, and blessedness of it, should make
it regarded as the most charming of all human
inventions or institutions. And surely, if six
days out of seven be enough for working, six
days out of seven are enough for fighting. I
would that we might hope that henceforth there
shall be no more Sabbath fighting, — at any rate, no
setting of the battle, on our part, on this hallowed
day.*

* The sermon closed with some extempore remarks on the im
portance of attending, in the midst of all this uncontrollable
strife, to the great work of personal salvation.

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?

A SERMON

Delivered in St. John's [Rev. Dr. Seiss's) Lutheran Church, Phila
delphia, on the National Fast-Day, Thursday, April 30, 1863.

"Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them,
This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting."
—Mark ix. 28, 29.
All the miracles of Christ are interesting, but
this one is of peculiar interest. The record be
gins with the intimation of a very impressive con
trast. Our Lord had just come down from the
Mount of Transfiguration; and, from the amaze
ment of the people at His appearance, it would
seem that somewhat of the glory which distin
guished Him on the height was still glittering
among the folds of His garments, and gleaming
in the beauty of His countenance. Strange to
say, gentle and glowing and loving as He was, He
was immediately met by the dark scowl and bitter
300

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 391
malice of His old and unrelenting enemy, the
prince of devils ! That is, the first sufferer brought
to Him for relief was this poor youth, possessed
by an evil spirit. But Satan is no match for the
Son of God. On any cloud, on any mountain, or
in any valley, the night may meet the morning;
but how easily the morning dispossesses heaven
and earth, and fills the world with the splendor of
common and perfect day!
Our Saviour took three of the apostles with
Him when He ascended the mountain; but the
nine others remained below with the waiting mul
titude. It was during the absence of Christ that
the young demoniac was brought to the place;
and the father, being oppressed by anxiety in his
son's behalf, and finding that nine of the apostles
were there, hoped that they might suffice, in want
of their Master, and therefore besought them to
cure him. It may be that the apostles thought
they could cure him; for previously to this occa
sion they had been sent forth on purpose to per
form such works, and had performed them. More
over, it is plain that in this case they tried to expel
the demon, but failed. The reason of their failure
seems to have been the subject of the great ques
tioning that was in progress when our Lord came
to them. The scribes may have taunted them
34

392 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT I
with their want of success: — You say you have
wrought such miracles in other places. How is
it that you lack the power here ? Surely this is
a case that appeals to all your sympathies. If
you can relieve him, why not do it? Aha! Vain
boasters are ye all ! We do not believe you ever
wrought a miracle !
In this condition Christ found them. It seems
appropriate that He appeared to them with more
than usual majesty, so as at once to encourage
His disciples and overawe their opponents. Ad
dressing Himself directly to the scribes, He asked,
"What question ye with them?" And just here
is one of the most pathetic points in the narrative.
The scribes did not answer. Neither did the
apostles make any reply. Probably they would
have spoken soon after ; but one was there whose
heart was too full of sorrow and solicitude to
wait for any of them. This was the almost broken
hearted father. Falling on his knees before the
gracious and glorious Redeemer, he cried out,
"Lord, I have brought unto thee my son, mine
only child. Have mercy on him, for he is lunatic
and sore vexed ; he has a dumb spirit, and wher
ever he taketh him he teareth him; and he foam-
eth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away;

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 393
and I spake to thy disciples, that they should cast
him out, and they could not."
The case being thus pathetically stated, and the
fault, not of one party only, but of all parties,
being so manifest to the all-searching Spirit of
divinity, "Jesus answered' and said, 0 faithless
generation, how long shall I be with you? how
long shall I suffer you ? Bring him unto me."
As though He had said, My disciples, indeed, have
shown a great want of faith, and therefore a want
of power, and so have exposed themselves to the
reproaches of their enemies : but the fault is not
theirs alone. It is the fault of the father also,
and of all who sympathize with him and bear
him company. The poor sufferer lingers in his
agony because ye are all faithless. And here, my
friends, is a great lesson, — a lesson relating to all
Christian operations, and especially to all church
enterprises. It is, indeed, important that the
ministry shall believe, but it is no less important
that the" people shall believe also. Without faith
on the part of both classes, it is impossible to
please God as a church, or to succeed in the true
mission of a church. Faith must be the co-opera
tive social law. Moreover, it was even then neces
sary, and now it is still more so, to exercise faith
in Christ though personally absent. He could

394 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
not long remain with those who were then about
Him; and, as to ourselves, He has never been pre
sent with us except by his Spirit. It is the unseen
Saviour whom, as Christians, we love, in whom
we believe and rejoice, and by whom we are
saved ourselves and made the instruments of sal
vation to others. It is all a matter of faith ; and
without faith we are as weak as the men of the
world. "Bring him unto me." As though He had
said, While I am with you, I cannot neglect you.
I must feel for you, and will show my sympathy
by helping you.
Then they brought the poor, miserable youth
into the Saviour's presence. But, as soon as he
saw Christ, the malignant spirit that possessed
him "tare him, and he fell on the ground, and
wallowed, foaming." Notwithstanding His ten
derness, Jesus remained calm. "And he asked
the father, How long is it ago since this came
unto him? And he said, Of a child. And oft-
times it hath cast him into the fire, and into the
waters, to destroy him; but," he cried, as if it
was impossible for him to dwell longer on the
mere history of the case while his dear boy was
thus violently convulsed at his feet, "if thou
canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 395
help us." As though he had said, Oh, I do not
know thee; I have heard of thee; it is said that
thou canst work such miracles ; and if thou
canst, — if thou art, indeed, superior to thy dis
ciples, and hast power to help us, — have pity on
our sorrow, and grant us help at once. Look at
my poor boy, and do not wait a moment. But
Jesus, of course, knew all that was right and
proper in the case, and acted according to the
suggestions of His own infinite wisdom. "If
thou canst believe," said He, "all things are pos
sible to him that believeth." As though He had
said, The delay is not occasioned by any lack of
either pity or power. The responsibility is thine,
rather than mine. It is needful for thee to be
lieve. Canst thou believe? It did not take long
for the father to decide. And, yet, how finely his
honesty is developed, as well as his love and
anxiety ! Great as was the pressure upon all his
sensibilities and affections, intensely as he longed
for the deliverance of his son, he could not pre
tend to more than he felt. Oh, the struggle in
his soul ! I would, if I could. I would do any
thing for my son. What shall I do? Then, it
may be, looking up into the face of Jesus, seeing
the serene and shining countenance, so full of
grace and glory, and so expressive of willingness
34*

396 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
and readiness to save, he was instantly subdued,
and, bursting into tears, straightway cried out,
"Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief." As
though he had said, Oh, yes, yes! I will, I do
believe: only I fear that my faith is not as per
fect as it should be! Lord, strengthen me, and
help me to believe with all my heart! Hearing
his agonizing cry, the people came running to
gether, and Jesus, satisfied with the answer, re
buked the foul spirit, saying unto him, "Thou
dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of
him, and enter no more into him." Ah, that,
indeed, was more than His disciples, in all proba
bility, could ever have said ! Not only, Come out
of him; but, also, Enter no more into him! A
perfect cure, at once and forever! No wonder
the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and so came
out of him; leaving him as dead, insomuch that
many said, He is dead. It may be that he was
dead, or so nearly dead that, if the disciples had
tried to resuscitate him, they would have failed
again, even though the devil was gone. "But
Jesus took him by the hand," — oh, the thrilling
virtue of that touch! — "and lifted him up, and
he arose." Then Jesus "delivered him again to
his father. And they were all amazed at the
mighty power of God." I wonder if the father

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 397
ever doubted after that ! Methinks he must have
been a whole-hearted believer as long as he
lived. But the disciples, the nine apostles, how mor
tified they must have been ! A most painful state
of feeling; but often very profitable, notwith
standing the pain, or, rather, because of the pain.
According to the fuller record by Matthew, who
was one of them, they came to Jesus apart, and
said unto him, "Why could not we cast him
out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your
unbelief ; for verily I say unto you, if ye have
faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place, and it shall remove ; and nothing shall be
impossible unto you. Howbeit, this kind goeth
not out but by prayer and fasting." The grada
tion here is this: 1. Fasting ; 2. Prayer; 3. Faith.
Comparatively, fasting is important; prayer, more
important; faith, most important. Philosophically,
fasting tends to the increase of prayer, and prayer
tends to the increase of faith. The desirable
result is, that we may be made strong in faith,
and so, by good works, be enabled to glorify God,
in the promotion of all human interests. With
out fasting, or rather without prayer, or rather
without faith, — the sum and substance of all, the

398 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
spirit in the absence of which all forms and efforts
are nothing, — without this faith, we may attempt
a thousand needful and excellent things, but fail
in all ; spend our whole lifetime in toil and sacri
fice, and exhaust our resources utterly in vain.
And what now? Is there any thing in this
history applicable to the peculiar demands of this
occasion? — any thing in our national affairs ana
logous to the conditions of the parties here de
scribed? What a tempting opportunity for the
exercise of oratorical ingenuity — what a fine
opening for the exhibition of dramatic skill !
Alas for every thing contrary to the simplicity
of the Gospel! Yet see : —
Our Lord himself, where is He ? Is He not
personally absent from us? Is He not enthroned
on the height of heaven, transfigured and illus
trious, seated in the immediate presence of His
Father, and rejoicing "in the midst of His an
cients gloriously"? Are not many of His dis
ciples, elect statesmen and churchmen, some of
whom we ourselves have known, and all of whose
names are dear to our country, assembled with
Him there, and do they not prove it to be good
to be there? and do they not desire above all
things to remain there ?
But who are these on earth, waiting for our

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 399
Lord's return? What great multitude is this,
and why is it so greatly excited, and why is there
so much questioning and disputation among the
people ? Is there not some case of great diffi
culty or trouble pending here? — some case of
social lunacy? of demoniacal State possession?
Who is the victim ? Is it not the South ? Who is
the father ? Is it not the National Government ?
Who are the disciples ? Are they not represented
by the Border States and Free States of the East,
West, and North? And who are the captious
scribes, and the great concourse of spectators?
Are they not England and the world at large ?
And see how the matter, so far, has proceeded.
The South has been possessed with an evil spirit,
the devil of slavery; a foul spirit, foul beyond
all utterance of foulness ; a dumb spirit, stifling
all words of complaint, all groans of pain, and de
manding silence even of the commiserating world
around it ; a deaf spirit, deaf as the adder, and as
deadly too, stinging and poisoning and destroying
black and white alike, hearing the shrieks and
heeding the agony of neither.
At last, after long-continued affliction and
mourning, the fatherly Government Beeks relief
for the lunatic son; brings him, in purpose, to
Christ Himself, but, failing to find Him, implores

400 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
the help of His disciples. The North — speaking
now of all the free sections as one — looks upon
the South with true sympathy ; detesting, indeed,
the devil that works the woe, but pitying the
victim who endures it. Calm in the assurance of
its own sanity, confident in its great strength and
ample resources, it has at first no doubt of its
ability to do all that is required. With certain
expectation, therefore, and with a clear, loud
voice, the command is given to the evil spirit to
quit the sufferer and depart. But, as in the case
of the Jewish exorcists of Ephesus, especially of
the seven sons of Seeva the chief-priest, the
attempt is a failure ; the adjuration is scarcely
pronounced, when the evil spirit exclaims, " Je
sus I know; but who are ye?" and the South,
inspired with demoniac fury, leaps upon the North,
overcomes it, prevails against it, and the North
flees from it, naked and wounded. Then England
cries out, " Aha ! disappointed, are you ? Not so
easy as you thought ! More mettle than you
looked for ! The chivalry has better blood than
you imagined !" And every scribe connected with
her press, and every Pharisee pampered by her
Church, all ranks of her social, civil, and eccle
siastical hierarchy, exult in the Northern reverse,
and join in the haughty taunt, "You conquered

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 401
us, did you, in two wars? And you conquered
Mexico, did you, since then ? And you were
quite sure you could quickly conquer the South,
were you ? Why don't you do it ? You can't !
You see you can't! There's no use in trying!
You had better give it up !"
Alas for the poor North ! How every true-
hearted patriot and Christian laments the result !
But it would never do to abandon the case at this
juncture. The very song of the children becomes
a quickening prompter, " Try, try again !" And so
another trial is made, and another, and another,
and yet another ; nay, such trials are continued
for weeks, and months, and even years. True,
sometimes the North appears to succeed. For a
while the violence of the demoniac is subdued.
But it is only for a little while. Soon the resist
less paroxysm returns. And who can hope in
such a contest ? Now the South flees, "naked and
wounded;" and again the North flees, "naked
and wounded." Both parties stream with blood,
and still the evil spirit retains his possession.
Still, also, the scribes and Pharisees multiply their
cutting sarcasms. "'Tis all in vain ! — worse than
vain. You are as mad as the South. Why don't
you stop, and let the devil hold his own in peace?"
And what now? How did the apostles act

402 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
after their failure and in the midst of their
shame ? We are not told. The record is silent
on this subject. But we may suppose that they
said, each in his heart, and perhaps openly one to
another, Oh that our Lord and Master would
come down from the mountain ! We have almost
forgotten Him. We have trusted too much to
our own strength. Therefore we have failed, and
exposed ourselves to all these insults. Perhaps
they looked up toward the height, and breathed a
prayer for His return.
So with us of the North. We have been ready
to say, as indeed the Israelites in the Desert said
of their great leader while secluded in Sinai, "As
for this [Jesus], He who brought us up from the
land of our captivity, we know not what has
become of Him." Christ has been in heaven so
long that, to us, He has become as one dead, or,
at least, as one lost. We have forgotten Him.
But now we see our sin and confess it. So, in
the form of the President's proclamation, we say,
"We have forgotten God." This is the burden
of the national confession. We have forgotten
God ! We have assumed the place of God our
selves. We have arrogated to ourselves His attri
butes, claimed as our own His achievements, sub
stituted our law for His law, and presumed thereby

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 403
to determine our future destiny. More successful
than Adam, while he merely sought divinity, we
have secured it! So we persuaded ourselves.
But now we see our folly. Now we feel our folly.
Now we deplore our folly. Alas for us, of our
selves we are " nothing — less than nothing — and
vanity !" Oh that we might see one of the days
of the Son of man ! Oh that Christ would come
back to us ! Without Him, as He himself fore
warned us, we "can do nothing." We have
attempted more than we can accomplish. Oh for
His help, to rescue us from failure and make us
successful !
Well, now suppose that the Redeemer gra
ciously appears in our behalf. We are more
amazed than was the multitude of old. He
inquires, first, Why all this questioning? The
North says nothing. England says nothing. But
the Government, father-like, cries out, Lord ! I
have brought unto thee my son. Have mercy
upon him. He is lunatic and sore vexed. He
has a dumb spirit. Wheresoever he taketh him,
he teareth him; and he foameth, and gnasheth
with his teeth, and pin eth away; and I brought
him to thy disciples that they should cast him
out, and they could not. Jesus answers, " 0 faith
less generation ! how long shall I be with you ?
35

404 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto
me." So the South is presented to Christ And
what a pitiable spectacle it is ! Did Jesus Him
self ever see a case so sad? And, lo ! as soon
as the South looks into the face of Jesus, the
demon tears his poor victim. He falls to the
ground, and wallows, foaming. Jesus speaks to
the Government, "How long is it ago since this
came unto him?" And the Government answers, —
oh, so sorrowfully! — "Of a child! And ofttimes
it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters,
to destroy him; but" — more earnestly still the
fatherly cry continues — "if thou canst do any
thing, have compassion on us, and help us !"
Jesus saith again unto the Government, "If thou
canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth." And straightway the Government
cries out, with tears, " Lord, I believe ; help thou
mine unbelief!" So bitter is this cry, that all
within hearing hasten toward the scene of interest.
And Jesus, not wishing any further embarrass
ment of the case, promptly rebukes the foul spirit,
and commands him, saying, "Thou dumb and deaf -
spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter
no more into him." And the spirit fairly shrieks
with malice and spite, and sorely rends his wretched
subject, and comes out of him; and he lies upon

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 405
the ground as one dead, and some say, He is
dead ; but, lo ! Jesus takes him by the hand, lifts
him up, helps him to stand, and so delivers the
poor South to the Government again, restored
and in his right mind, never, — for here is the
beauty of it, the glory of it, the everlasting joy
of it, — never to be repossessed by the devil, free
from slavery at last, and certain of remaining so
forever ! And what has England tb say now ?
What say her scribes ? What say her Pharisees ?
Do they say, It was a great mistake to expel the
devil, with so much pain ? It would have been
better to let the poor South remain as he was ? —
What! remain as he was! Subject to renewed
attacks forever ! Falling into the fire still ! Fall
ing into the water still ! Near being destroyed
every moment still ! Oh, no, no, no ! rather let
England say, and the world say, " It is the Lord ;
let him do what seemeth him good!" And as
for the disciples, what do they say ? What can
they say, except simply to inquire, " Lord ! why
could not we cast him out?" And what can the
Lord answer, but this, "Because of your unbelief;
for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a
grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and
it shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible

406 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
unto you. Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but
by prayer and fasting."
And what now? Will this do? Is such an
analogy sufficient for the occasion ? Not at all ;
not at all ! The case is not as thus represented.
We have no reason to expect a miracle. Christ
is in heaven ; and there He will abide until the
time appointed for the accomplishment of a far
greater work than this shall require His personal
attention. The difficulty is left to our own man
agement, under ordinary earthly circumstances.
The Government and the North must settle it,
under God, themselves. Besides, the representa
tion of the South as the only child would not be
correct ; neither would it be just, without quali
fication, to describe it as lunatic and possessed
with a devil, especially if in contrast to a sane
and wise and innocent North. Allowance would
have to be made for much individual piety, intel
ligence, and general good character in the South,
however for the time perverted and misled.
Similar allowance would have to be made for
individual examples of ignorance and corruption,
of wickedness and worthlessness, in the North ;
notwithstanding the array of much of all, as a
fighting force, on the side of what we esteem to
be right. As for England and other nations, the

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 407
allusion to them, perhaps, might stand, as not
seriously amiss. But, upon the whole, I could
not work such an analogy efficiently, for fear of
doing injustice to some of the parties in the case.
And there is nothing under heaven that so com
pletely takes the soul out of an orator, and makes
him speak like a mere automaton, as a doubt of
tbe truth of his utterance, or a fear that what he
says is not just. If you would have an orator all
soul, — a pure, celestial fire, burning and blazing
gloriously as an archangel fresh from the throne
of Omnipotence, — fill him with the truth, and
assure him of the justice of his cause. Then, if
he ever knew what genius and passion are, their
real divine virtue, he will set sky and earth and sea
in flames, if necessary to the accomplishment of
his patriotic, philanthropic, and Christian purpose.
Even I, therefore, discarding, of course, all preten
sion, must drop this analogy for simpler, plainer,
purer doctrine. And what is that ? Why, leaving
all circumlocution, and pressing straight onward
in my speech, it is this : — We may fast as much as
we will, and pray as much as we will; but, unless
our fasting increase the fervency of our praying,
and our more fervent praying increase the might
and majesty of our faith, all our efforts will end
in irreparable and everlastingly disgraceful failure.
35*

408 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
Unless we go forth to the battle in the fulness of
a true, pure, trustworthy, equalizing, elevating,
and almighty faith, — the faith of a holy Christian
democracy, — as opposed to all the blandishments
and all the selfish, degrading, and destructive
tyrannies of an infidel and insatiable aristocracy, —
our sacred Union is dissolved forever; our sacred
territory is divided forever; our sacred liberties, if
not destroyed, are impaired, imperilled, and shorn
of half their glory forever; our sacred example is
darkened and dishonored forever; and our sacred
mission in behalf of all humanity, for all lands and
all ages, is basely and ruinously forfeited forever.
The two sections assert opposite systems. It
is impossible for both to be true. We must
decide which is true, and give our faith, and our
life with our faith, to that, and that alone, and
that forever.
The South asserts slavery. Slavery is right.
Slavery is a good. Slavery is sanctioned by the
Bible and by the God of the Bible. Slavery is
constitutional. State sovereignty is constitutional.
Secession is constitutional. While the Union
lasted, slavery gave us inestimable advantages.
Slavery enabled us to rule at our will four millions
of black people. Slavery enabled us to rule at
our will seven millions of poor white people.
8*

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 409
Slavery enabled us to divide the North, and so
rule at our will twenty millions more of white
people. Slavery enabled us to secure and hold
the General Government, and so rule at our will,
in whole, more than thirty millions of people.
And so fond are we of rule, that we would not
belong to a government which we could not control.
Now that the Union is dissolved, and we are an
Independent Confederacy, though our rule will be
more limited, it will be more complete and less
disturbed. Free from the everlasting annoyance
of the contemptible hypocrites and fanatics of the
North, we will keep the black man under one
foot, and the poor white man under the other,
and there shall be none in heaven or earth to say,
Remove your feet, and let the down-trodden arise.
We will re-open the slave-trade, and, at our plea
sure or according to our interest, multiply its
horrors a hundredfold. We will cultivate sym
pathy with all the aristocracies and monarchies
of Europe. We will encourage and strengthen
them. We will give the lie to all our former pro
fessions of republicanism; and, making slavery
the corner-stone of our institutions, we will put
the Bible in that corner-stone, seal it up, bury it,
build upon it, and so proceed, cementing every
layer of stone with blood and tears, until we

410 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT ?
reach the top-stone, shouting over that, at last,
Democracy is a humbug! Republicanism is a
failure ! Cotton-lords are we ! Cottondom is our
kingdom ! Cotton is our king ! And the God
of cotton is our God, and the God of our children,
and our children's children, for ever and ever !
What now ? Can we pledge our faith and devote
our allegiance there? Impossible! Essentially,
formally, utterly, eternally, unspeakably impos
sible ! Wemustantagonize the whole theory. We
must assert liberty! Slavery is wrong; liberty
only is right. Slavery is evil ; liberty only is
good. Slavery is not sanctioned by the Bible.
As with all other evils, so with this, the Bible
suffers it, but provides redemption from it. Li
berty only is sanctioned by the Bible and the God
of the Bible. State sovereignty is not constitu
tional; but liberty only. Secession is not consti
tutional. While the Union remained, slavery de
luded and blinded the nation. Its least mischief
was wrought among the blacks. It corrupted and
perverted the aristocrats themselves ; changed
them from witnesses for God and humanity into
witnesses for Satan and self, and, practically, by
their agency, nullified the constitutional guarantee
of a republican form of government for every
State, and, within its own limits, trampled repub-

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 411
licanism in the dust. At the same time, it ate
out every thing vital in the Church. Instead of
educating, elevating, enriching, and encouraging
the Christianization of the non-slaveholding popu
lation around it, it made that population perhaps
the most ignorant, irreligious, embruted, and
wretched white population on the face of the
earth. Its influence on the North was the haugh
tiest and vilest, the proudest and meanest, the
most seductive and the most contemptuous, that
ever divided, demoralized, and humbled a free
people. It made our general Government, against
all the instincts, traditions, and professions of our
history, against every pulsation of every honest
heart in the land, the hypocrite of nations ! — the
protector of pretended lovers of freedom, who in
reality were the most arrogant despisers of -fra
ternity and equality, and chief swindlers of the
rights of mankind. And, since the attempt to
sunder the Union, — which, thank God ! is yet
only an attempt, and destined, I trust, to speedy
and perpetual disappointment, — all this, and more
-than this, has come out, and is boldly emblazoned
on every rebel banner, and everywhere flaunted
in the vision of heaven and earth. How they
hate and persecute to the death the comparatively
few Union men of their own States who have not

412 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
yet been cowed into submission ! How they hate
the multiplying Union men of the half-rescued
Border States, and how ready they are to plunder
and murder them ! How they hate the more
numerous Union men of the wholly-rescued Bor
der States, and denounce their preference of
liberty and Union to slavery and secession ! How
they hate the freemen of the Middle States and
Eastern States and Western States, classing them
all as Yankees and Hessians, cursing them with
bitterest curses, and spurning every thought, even
the gentlest and kindest, of any thing like re
union with us! How they disown and despise
us, as all of another and inferior race, — baser than
they, both in blood and spirit ! And where are
their embassadors? Are they anywhere, in any
land, among the people ? Or, as strangers to the
people and scorners of the people, do they seek
shelter and warmth under the wings of foreign
aristocracies, and peep from the shade of such
patronage, and mutter in the ears of such audi
ence ?
Body and soul, with life, fortune, and sacred
honor, in the name of God and man, — of the
Fatherhood over all and the brotherhood amon°-
all, — we go for liberty, true liberty, honest, ear
nest, equal, open-hearted, open-handed liberty!

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 413
Ah ! how well I remember the exclamation of a
Virginian, at the ratification of the nomination
of General Scott for the Presidency, in Monu
ment Square, Baltimore! "Our heroes remain,"
said he, "but our orators have departed !" Even
then I thought, No wonder ! for, as Longinus de
clares, "No slave can be an orator;" and we may
Btill more truly affirm, No advocate of slavery can
be an orator ! Ten thousand advocates of slavery
would fail to make one real, genuine orator. The
soul of the true orator is not a compound of such
selfish atoms. No, no; it is the great breath
of the Almighty, the inspiration of divine liberty.
This it was that made Patrick Henry an orator :
never more so than when he clasped his hands,
and looked up toward the God from whom his free
spirit descended, and cried from earth to heaven,
"Give me liberty, or give me death !"
Yes, my friends, my brethren, my Christian
brethren, we go for liberty ! We go for liberty
even for the aristocrats themselves. We do not
hate them; cannot hate them; would not hate
them if we could. We are infinitely too happy
in our own nobler, broader, and sublimer faith, to
hate even the proudest, bitterest, and worst of them
all. All we want is to see them converted ; or,
if that cannot be, to see them transported to their

414 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
transatlantic kith and kin, to the European para
dises of aristocracy, to the palaces and gardens of
all who prefer self to the redemption of the world.
Whatever comfort such exclusiveness can give
them, — and, doubtless, they would scarcely ask
any better,— let them have it !
But, next, we go for liberty to the poor blacks;
not an insurrection, but a resurrection. And,
next, we go for liberty to the poor whites, — a still
wider and more glorious resurrection. And, next,
we go for liberty to all the Union men of the
South, — another resurrection. And, next, we go
for liberty to the whole sweep of the continent, —
north, south, east, and west, from lake to gulf,
and from ocean to ocean, — one heritage for all
people. " Liberty and Union, one and inseparable,
now and forever," for ourselves and our children,
our race and the world, as long as time shall last
or even immortality endure !
What then ? Is this right, or wrong ? Is this
true, or false ? Is this good, or evil? We must
decide, or, rather, we have decided. This is right,
is true, is good. This is our faith. With this
faith, we go forth to the battle ; sad, indeed, that
there must be any battle; loving our enemies,
praying for them, and yet pressing on them, — not
so much because they are our enemies, as that

WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT? 415
they are the enemies of truth, right, and good ;
enemies of liberty, fraternity, and equality; ene
mies of civilization and Christianity ; enemies of
God and man: even if honestly so, still only the
more efficiently so because of their honesty, and
therefore the more resolutely to be met, and op
posed, and subdued, and put down, and kept
down, for ever and ever. Either this, or we our
selves must be put down; and republicanism
must be put down ; and aristocracy exalted ; and
liberty destroyed; and slavery rattle its chains,
and utter its groans, and drop its blood, through
all the ages ; and our holy religion itself be cru
cified between thieves, with little hope of its ever
living again. We may fast, but this is not enough ;
we may pray, but this is not enough : we must
believe, or we can do nothing. We must sacrifice
every thing we have to our faith. There is no
room for treason here ; no room for divided sym
pathy here ; no room for timid shrinking here ;
no room for hesitating and vacillating caution
here ; no room for equal matching and chivalrous
duelling here; no room for jealousy and self-
seeking here ; no room for partisan plottings and
counter-plottings here; no room for invidious
distinctions between the Government and the
Administration here; no room for any thing
36

416 WHY COULD NOT WE CAST HIM OUT?
under God's heaven or on God's earth but the im
mense, simultaneous, outnumbering, overpower
ing progress of a grand, national, judicial pro
cess, solemn as death, sublime as eternity, and,
by the grace of God, resistless as Omnipotence :
the necessity of love ; the recompense of hope ;
the magnificent march of faith, in triumphant
vindication of all that is noble in man and worthy
of his Maker.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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