with its chief characters such as Abraham, David and Jesus. A few
are even able to give a clear-cut outline of the important events
of Israel's history; but they regard it simply as a history whose
associations and interests belong to a bygone age. How many
realize that most of the problems which Israel met and solved are
similar to those which to-day are commanding the absorbing
attention of every patriotic citizen, and that of all existing
books, the Old Testament makes the greatest contributions to the
political and social, as well as to the religious thought of the
world? National expansion, taxation, centralization of authority,
civic responsibility, the relation of religion to politics and to
public morality were as vital and insistent problems in ancient
Israel as they are in any live, progressive nation to-day. The
gradual discovery of this fact explains why here and there
through-out the world the leaders in modern thought and progress
are studying the Bible with new delight and enthusiasm; not only
because of its intrinsic beauty and interest, but because in it
they find, stated in clearest form, the principles which elucidate
the intricate problems of modern life.



THE OBJECTS OF THESE STUDIES,

There are two distinct yet important ways of interpreting the
Bible: The one is that of the scholar who knows the Bible from the
linguistic, historical and literary point of view; the other, that
of the man who knows life and who realizes the meaning and value of
the Bible to those who are confronted by insistent social, economic
and individual problems. These studies aim to combine both methods