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VOL. HI. RICHMOND.
The Immo
The rapidity with which books are printed is
; something marvelous. By means of the steam
and electric type setting machine and printing
press books are turned out at the rate of fifty
thousand, annually. But it is equally notable
that the best of them will not bear reading more
than the second or third time, when they are
laid aside and eventually forgotten. Each succeeding
age, says De Quincey, buries its own
literature.
And yet notwithstanding this apparent disrelish
for the old book and transcient desire for
the new one, the Bible abides, and continues with
increasing popular interest. It is distinguished
by immortality. And why? Surely, there is
some extraordinary reason for this.
In a work on English literature of the
eighteenth century the author says that
three things are essential to give a book
immortality: Vision of eternal truths; ^
adaptability to man's eternal needs, and JL
-i!
conformity to permanent principles. ^ tn
VISION OP ETERNAL TRUTHS. A A
The Bible is a vision of eternal truth. A Ay
By eternal truth is meant those truths A ^ n
which are divinely original, from ever- A ^
lastng and not subject to change, per- A j
petual and without intermission. The A ghc
vision of the trinal unity of God, of A "N
the Incarnation, of human redemption, ?? Wi
of the kingdom of God, and of the
resurrection of the body, afforded by gu]
the Bible, are truths which the human V
mind, unassisted by revelation, could W1
never have discovered. Plato and J
Descartes and Bacon originated no new ^ '
truths. They simply interpreted the V
natural ideas and truths embodied in ^ gef
their mental and moral constitution I
which is "the handiwork of God." It Of
is the prerogative of God, solely, to ^
create and reveal new truths. Man is V
o Wr
simply an interpreter of the truths of X
God in his own constitution and in the ? Co,
world of nature; and the truths em- ^
balmed in the Bible originated with the t. He
V (
Ancient of Days and came from God Jk ^
v_ ;_i . , , V Cai
uy especmi reveiauou, eise man naa ^ rp0
never known them. JL
In contrast with the querulous utter- <??
ances and poetic hyperboles which convey
partial and false ideas of the soul,
as being "such stuff as dreams are made of,"
cnO\ and, of life, as being "rounded with a sleep."
?think of the ideas and truths which hang like
1 . n & constellation in the firmament of the Bible,
v Under this awe-inspiring vision the portion of
the soul's existence, in which its felicity or misery
for all eternity becomes a settled fact, and
life, instead of being "a dream, a bubble, a
shadow," assumes enormous proportions and relationships,
realities and responsibilities. This
H *
?? .
jgipi
NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA, DECEMB1
rtality Of
By Rev. R. L. Benn. '
t
life id not tinai. The powers of the soul are
hampered by the weakness of its fleshy instrument
; its purposes and aspirations are restrained
by the body it inhabits and the world in which
it strives to express itself; its potential aims and
ideals are but partially realized here. The Bible
pushes back the horizon and gives it a vision of
certain immortality, of complete redemption i
from sin, of the resurrection of the body from 1
the grave, and, of the eternal felicities of heaven, ti
Thwifl t.mtlis novpr nVianera l^ovoalo^ io
is immortal. It can never perish. The producGtfie
$ible.
sterious liook! outliving age and time,
\nd standing still, foursquare to all the world,
:e fortress vast, impervious and sublime>
iVithstanding all assaults against it hurl'd
e calm amid the storm, it came to stay,
til the fires of the Judgment Day.
sealing Book! aloue in it we trace
low life began upon this globe of ours,
>ws God?not Science, creator of the race.
Vhen man deriv'd his high and godlike powers,
thout simian nrncess hnt. ax a strnkfv
x , ? - ~?J
n rose in fullness when his Maker spoke.
^passing volume, whose prophets, priests and kings
lire seen in action on its wondrous stage,
lere poet, greater e'en than Homer sing3,
^nd lends enchantment to its sacred page,
lere worlds unseen are open to our view,
d songs, celestial, sung by angels, too.
storing Book! sole hope of fal 'n man,
n it reveal'd contains the wondrous scheme
his redemption before the world began,
for this alone, the key to ev'ry theme,
it staggers Science, life beyond the grave,
Lich souls immortal e 'er by nature crave.
isoling Book, where sore and brok'n hearts
Vith whom the world and life have gone amiss
re solaces find, and refuge from the darts
)f fortune hard, anticipated bliss
i sweeten death, destroy its dreadful look
all who lean in that dark hour upon this Book.
Duval Porter.
y f
tions of such human geniuses as Milton and 1
Shakespeare, Browning and Tennyson, are as f
tonishing, indeed. But where will these be a b
million years from today! Who will read the r
play of "Hamlet," the epic of "Paradise Lost," f
the drama of the "King and the Book." the p
"Idyls of the King," marvelous as they are, in i
the eternal years of God! They occupy a deserved
place and discharge a noble function, but
they are mortal still, and every part of them, c
MM?
'ESTERRPRESBYTEP/AM
l Presbyter/an
iEffN Presbyter/a r
rn / i ai i ^^
LIX D, i y i i. inu.
The Bible
iiid of all similar achievements, except that
vhich relates to the salvation of the soul and
he kingdom of God, will pass away, like?
4 The cloud capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself, shall
dissolve,
And leave not a rock behind."
But the truths of the Bible live and abide
orever, and are the immortal seeds of eternal
ife. They live in, and shine forth in the charicter
of the saints throughout eternity.
\f AXf'c PIPCOVU ?TOni\o
By man's eternal needs is meant his moral
A A needs. What are these! Are the truths
of the Bible adapted to themt The
mind wants reliable guilding and actcessible
truth; the heart wants a perfect
changeless love; the will wants
^ commandments which have an auJL
thoritative ring in their very utter^
ance and which serve as an infallible
guide; the moral nature wants that
which will free conscience from guilt,
purge it from dead works, deliver it
& from retributive fears and quicken its
hopes. Te soul wants a light which
A will shine through all conditions of
A life and burn with increasing brilA
liance when all other lights are going;
gone out. These needs are eternal
?? and imperative and the eternal truths
?& of the Bible are adapted to them. By
<? faith in Christ, the atoning Lamb of
God, a new life begins in the soul,
+? guilt is removed, a peace which passY
eth all understanding possesses the soul,
^ and a hope which is full of immortality
irradiates its gloomy chambers. This
is a fact of experience.
A poor ignorant man who was talkX
ing of heaven was asked by a college
% professor how he knew there was such
? a place. "Why," he replied, "because
I have such a hankering for it." A
sceptic who was near his end said to
a minister: "It may be a confession
of the weakness of my position, but I
& must admit that every crusade against
Christianity has failed, in not meeting
the moral wants of man." This is an
lonest confession. For without similarity of
'eeling with God salvation is a natural impossi>ility.
The eternal truths of the Bible; its superlatural
Redeemer, its regenerating and sanctiying
Spirit, alone, meet man's eternal needs by
>roviding similarity of feeling with God which
s eternal salvation.
PERMANENT AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES.
The love of the beautiful is inherent in the
.onstitution of humanity. The art and sculp