of interpretation."

_Jeremy Taylor_.


"To those who follow their reason in the interpretation of the
Scriptures, God will either give his grace for assistance to find the
truth, or His pardon if they miss it."

_Lord Falkland_.

[Rational Theology in England in the Seventeenth Century; John Tulloch,
D.D., II: 181, I:398, I:160]




Preface.



It has been my custom for several years to give occasionally a series of
sermons, having in view some systematic instruction of the people
committed to my care. Such a series of sermons on the Bible had been for
some time in my mind. With the recurrence of Bible-Sunday in our Church
year, this thought crystallized in the outline of a course that should
present the nature and uses of the Bible, both negatively and positively,
in a manner that should be at once reverent and rational. In the course of
this parochial ministration public attention was called to it in a way
that has rendered a complete report of my words desirable.