In His Image by William Jennings Bryan
page 39 of 242 (16%)
page 39 of 242 (16%)
|
of Him he will express himself in the language of the father (whose son
had a dumb spirit), who, as recorded in Mark (9:24), "cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." If he would only mingle with humanity he might catch the spirit of the Master; if his sympathies were broad enough to take in all of God's people, he would be so impressed with the religious needs of sinful man that he would hasten to break to him the "Bread of Life" instead of offering him a stone. The Bible, _as it is_, has led millions to repentance and, through forgiveness, into life; the Bible, as the higher critics would make it, is impotent to save. Enemies of the Bible have been "blasting at the Rock of Ages" for nearly two thousand years but in spite of attacks of open and secret foes, God still lives, and His Book is still precious to His children. The Bible would be the greatest book ever written if it rested on its literary merits alone, stripped of the reverence that inspiration commands; but it becomes infinitely more valuable when it is accepted as the Word of God. As a man-made book it would compel the intellectual admiration of the world; as the audible voice of the Heavenly Father it makes an irresistible appeal to the heart and writes its truths upon our lives. Its heroes teach us great lessons--they were giants when they walked by faith, but weak as we ourselves when they relied upon their own strength. The Bible starts with a simple story of creation--just a few words, but it says all that can be said. The scientists have framed hypotheses, the philosophers have formulated theories and the speculators have guessed--some of them have darkened "counsel by words without |
|