Part 14 (1/2)

11 I next learned that there were differences of opinion aht to have a place in the Bible or not In my father's Bible there were several books called the Apocrypha So I used to read thee portions of others, especially those called _The Wisdoood, as true, and as beautiful as anything in the Book of Proverbs My parents however told me, that those books were not to be put on a level with the other books of the Bible,--that there was soin, and that there was some doubt whether they were really a part of the word of God

12 I afterwards learnt though, that they were regarded as part of God's word by the Catholics, and I continued to read large portions of them with much satisfaction and profit

13 I also learnt from Adam Clarke and others, that there had been doubts in the ht of some of the Epistles and of the Book of Revelation to be admitted as parts of the Bible And I afterwards found that the Book of Revelation was excluded from the Bible by the Greek Church, and by Luther as well:--and that Luther had but little regard for the Epistle of Jaht

14 I further learnt that so to a place in the Bible, and I found that even Ada

All these were facts; and I learned thehest repute for learning and piety And so long as things went on smoothly, they had not, so far as I can reme been harassed for years by the intolerance of my brethren, I was expelled from the ministry and the church, and finally placed in a hostile position with regard to the great body of Christians and Christian an to see, that those facts were incompatible with the views and theories of the divine inspiration and absolute perfection of the Bible held by my opponents I came very slowly to see this, and after I saw it I was slow to speak on the subject in my publications; but the tith

One of es of infidelity, and by statements about the Scriptures which I knew he could not ot me into controversy on the subject Then I uttered all that was in s which he had said about the Bible were not true,--that they were inconsistent with plain unquestionable facts,--with facts acknowledged by all the divines on earth of any consequence, and known even to hied in this controversy I made discoveries of other facts inconsistent with the views of my persecutors, and pressed them upon my opponent withoutexcited by his unfairness, dishonesty andthe Bible, led me probably to be less concerned for its claims than I otherwise should have been Suffice it to say, I cae opponent, not a disbeliever in the Bible or Christianity, but with views farther res much less hostile to heterodox extre the vieas led to entertain and proard to the Bible about this ti

1 We have no proof that the different portions of the Bible were absolutely perfect as they came from the hands of the writers The probability is on the other side For if an absolutely perfect book had been necessary for man, it would have been as necessary to _keep_ it perfect, as to _make_ it perfect And as God has not seen fit to _keep_ it perfect, we have no reason to suppose that He made it so

2 But in truth, to write an absolutely perfect book in an ies are ireater part of the Bible ritten, is very imperfect And it seems to have been much more imperfect in those times when the Bible ritten, than it is now And the Greek language, in which the remainder of the Bible ritten, was imperfect And the Greek used in the New Testament is not the best Greek;--it is not the Greek of the Classics

3 And both Greek and Hebre are _dead_ languages, and have been so for es This renders them more imperfect in some respects: it makes it harder in many cases to ascertain the sense in which words, and particular forard to the Hebree have no other books in that language, written in those early ages when the different parts of the Bible ritten, to assist us in ascertaining the sense in which words were used

4 The writers of Scripture differ very much from one another both in style and reatly in worth and usefulness Ezekiel is much more obscure than Jereures, and some of the visions of Ezekiel, seeible And the matter of many parts of Ezekiel's prophecies seems inferior to that of the prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah Soood and useful to the last degree But other portions, whatever value they ht have for persons of former times and other lands, have none, that I can see, for us

5 Some portions of Jeremiah, and even of Isaiah, appear to have little that is calculated to be of use in the present day Indeed soible But s of both those prophets abound in the , and useful lessons

6 And so with Daniel and the s led in them all

7 It is the sas are as plain as they well can be; others are very obscure, perhaps quite unintelligible Soes in the controversial portions of his Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians, and considerable parts of the Epistle to the Hebrews, are dark as night to many; and I fear that those who think they understand them, are under a delusion And as portions of these Epistles rested by the unlearned and unconfirmed in Peter's time, so have they been mistaken for lessons in moral laxity since And still they are used by many as props for immoral and blasphemous doctrines

8 And what shall we say of the Book of Revelation? Adaht he understood it as well as any one, yet acknowledged that he did not understand it at all And though there are several passages that are both plain and practical, and many that are most wondrously and sublimely poetical, and some few that are rich both in truth and tenderness, yet, as a whole, the Book is exceedingly, if not impenetrably, dark

9 Soiven twice over, as in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, and the two accounts, in some cases, seem to be irreconcilable with each other The nue The accounts agree well enough, and the statereat importance; but on smaller matters there are many plain discrepancies

So two or three of the Psaliven twice over

10 Then who that reads the Proverbs attentively can help seeing, that some of them are much plainer, and calculated to be much more useful, than others Many of theoodness beyond measure; but others appear to have neither much of beauty, nor much of utility

11 And the Psalms are not all of equal excellence Soeance Many contain fierce and resentful expressions And though these things were excusable in early times, and were, in fact, not wicked, but only a lower forreat inferiority to the teachings and spirit of Jesus But taken as a whole, the Psalms are miracles of beauty and sublimity, of tenderness and hteousness They are a heaven of bright constellations; a world of glory and blessedness

12 The Book of Job too is a reat loss to the world if it were to perish The twenty-ninth and thirty-first chapters are worth the whole literature of infidel philosophy a hundred tiems of purest ray serene,' and treasures of incalculable value

13 And even the Book of Ecclesiastes, while it contains e, a dark, and a doubtful character, has many oracles of wisdoreat solemnity and power

14 There is a vast aoodness in the laws of Moses

I say nothing of the laws that are reat importance mixed up even with them at times Take those about the Nazarites Most of them are beautiful, excellent; and ould it be if people even in our days would accept them as rules for their own conduct

Then take the lahich forbid the use of wine and strong drink to thepriests They are wonderfully wise

And even the laws about the different kinds of beasts, and birds, and fishes, that were allowed or forbidden as food, are, on the whole, reiven, and the people for whoned, the laws of Moses generally, are worthy of the highest praise

15 But Judaism is not Christianity That which was the best for the Jews three thousand years ago, was not the best for all ions and laws of surrounding nations, and of preceding ages, Judaiser glorious Judaisanishteousness; but compared with Christianity it is a arly eles contained in the law of Moses are repealed or forbidden by Christ; still more are quietly dropped and left behind; while other portions are developed, expanded, and exalted