impress some vital ethical and spiritual truth. Such singleness of
religious purpose is paralleled nowhere else except in the work and
teachings of Jesus and his apostles.

[Sidenote: _Its present fruits the proof of its inspired authority_]

The ever-present evidence of the divine authority back of the spiritual
teachings of the Old Testament as a whole is that they ring true to
life and meet its needs. By their fruits we know them. It is the
demonstration of the laboratory. We know that they are inspired because
they inspire. The principles underlying the social sermons of Amos are
as applicable to present conditions as when first uttered. The sooner
they are practically applied the sooner our capitalistic civilization
can raise its head now bowed In shame. The faith that breathes through
the Psalms is the faith that upholds men to-day in the midst of
temptation and trial. The standards of justice, tempered by love, which
are maintained in the Old Testament laws make good citizens both of
earth and heaven. As long as men continue to test the teachings of the
Old Testament scriptures in the laboratory of experience and to know
them by their fruits, nothing can permanently endanger their position
in the Christian Church or in the life of humanity. Neglect and
indifference, not Higher Criticism, alone permanently threaten the
authority of the Old Testament as well as that of the New.

[Sidenote: _Significance of the variations and inconsistencies_]

Recognizing the real nature and purpose of these ancient records, the
true student neither denies nor is disturbed by the marks of their human
authorship. As in the case of the Gospels, the variations between the
parallel narratives are all evidence of their genuineness and of the