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• CHAPTER IV

TI-IE TESTIMONY · OF THE ORGANIC UNITY OF . •

THE BIBLE ·TO ITS INSPIRATION • •

BY THE LATE ARTHUR T. ·P IERSON • •

The argument for the i1ispiration of the Bible wliich I am •

to pre,sent i's _t,hat draw'1i fro 1m its ii·n,ity~ Thi s ttnity may be see11 in .s~veral conspicuotts particulars ,, upon some of which it will be· well to dilate. ·

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·. . 1. THE UNI .TY 1·s ·s ·TRUCTURAL. In tl1e, Bool< itself ,&p-P·ears a certain archetypal, arcl1itectt1raI pla~1. The two Testa­ments are 'built on the same general scl1e1ne. · ·Each is in three p,arts : historic, didact ·ic, propl1etic · ;, looki ·ng to the past, 'the, present, and the futu1·e.

Here · is a collectio11 of books; in their style and character 'tl1ere is great variety and diversity; some are histor ·ic·al, other ,s poeti ,cal; som .e co,ntain 1,aws, other ,s lyri ,cs,; some are prophetic, some symbolic; in the Old Testament we have historical,' poeti­cal, and p ·ropheti 1cal divisions; an,d in the New . Testament we have histori 1c narr lativ ·es, then twen .ty-.011e ·epistl~s l, then a sym­bolic apocalyptic poem in oriental imagery. A11d yet this is no a1"tificial arrangement of frag111e11ts. We find ''the Old Tes­t,ament pa·tent in the N 1ew; the N e,v latent in the Old.''

In such a Boo1k, then, it is not likely that there would be . unity; for all the conditions were unfavorable to a l1armonious

moral t,estimony ·. and teaching. Here are l some sixty or m,ore separate d,01cuments, wr ·itten by so1ne . f 0 1·ty diff ere int persons, , scattered over wide intervals of space and time, strangers t@ each o,ther ; these docume ·nts are written in three different 1anguages, in different lands, amot1

1g ¢liff erent and sometim~s

~ostile peoples, with mark ed diversities of literary style, and by men of all gr,ad 1es of culture an 1d . mental capacity, from

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Moses to Malachi ; and when we look into these productio 1ns, there is even in them great unlikeness, both in matter and mann 1er of ·sta teme·11t ; and )ret the·y all constitute on,e vo,lu1ne.

All ar e entirely at agreement. There is diversity in unity, and unity i11 d·ive.1~·sity. It is, '' e p,lurib·its· ·unum.'' The mo ·re W·e study it, ·tl1e m·ore do its, unity and l1arnio1ny ap1pear. , Even

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the La.w and the Gospel a,re no1t i·n conflict.. They stan 1d, .like t~e cherubim, f.acin.g diff 1erent ways, but their f acesl are t.oi'ward e·ach other. An .d the four Gospels !, lik1e th 1e cherubic creatur 1es in Ezekiel's vision, £lacing in fottr diff1erent dire ,ction ls, move in one. All the criticism ,of more tl1an three th.ousand years has failed to point out one important or irreconcilable contradic­ti1on in the testimony and teachings o.f those who are farthest separ 1ated there is no collision, yet there could be no ,c1ol-1 !I ' 1us1on . · ..,.

riow can th·is be accounted for ·? There is no answer wl1ich can be given u·nless yo1u admit th.e supernatural element. If God actually superintended the production of this Book, then its unity is the unity of a Divine plan and its harmony the har1nony of a Supreme Intelligence ,.

As the baton rises and falls in the hand of the co11ductor of some grand o,r·chestra, ft·om vi1olin and bas.s-viol, co1rnet ,and flute, trombone and trumpet, flageolet and clarinet, bugle and French horn, , cymbals and drum; there comes one grand har­mony I There is no doub ·t,, tho ,ugh the con.duct 1or were s.1cr 1eene ,d f ro1m view, tl1at 011 1e 1naster mind controls all the instrt1ment 1al perf orm ·et·s. Bi1t God m,akes His orat 1orio to ,play for more thart a t11ousa11d years ; th ,e key is never ],ost and never change s except by those exquisite modulations that show the master composer; and wl1en the last stra in dies away it is seen that all these glorious move1nents and melodies have been variations on one grand theme ! Did each musician compose as he played, or was there one composer back of all the play~ ers? ,cone sttpreme and regulating mind'' in this Oratorio of the Age s ? If God \Vas the master musician planning the

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Unity of . the B-ible to Its Inspiration 57

Wh1ole ,and arrang-in1g the parts, ther1 we· can unde·rstar11d how

, Moses' grand anthem of creation glided into Isaiah's oratorio •

10f the Mes .siah; by and by sinks int ·o Jeremiah's plaintive wail, s,wells into Ez ,ek·iel's awful ,c·horus, cha11ges into Daniel's rapturous lyric; and, after the quartette of the evangelists, cl1os.es with Jo,hn's fl1ll ,cl1oi1· of s,aints , a11d an,gels !

The temple, first built upon Mou11t Moriah, was built of stone,, made· rc.ady bef or 1e it was bro,ugl1t .thither; th 1ere . was neither hamnp:er nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the· house

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\Vh,il.e ~t w,as. in building. What i11sur,ed symmetry · in the tem-ple when constructed, and harmony between t.he. wo·rkn1en in the quarries and tl1e shops, and the builders on tl1e hill? One Presiding 1nind planned the who le,· one intelligence built that whole structt1re i11 ideal bef or 1e it was in fact. The builders built . more wisely than they knew, p,utting together the ideas of the archit 1ect a·nd not t'heir own. Only so cat1 w1e a,c.co,unt for the structural unity of ihe Word of God. The structure was planned and wrought out in the mind of a Divine Archi~ tect, who superintended His o,,vn workmen and work. Moses laid it.s foundation ,s, not knowing who sh1oul.d bu·ild after him,

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or what form th ,e str uct ure should assume:. Workman after wo(rkma11 f ollovved ; he might see that there was .a,greement

. ,vi.th wh lat went before, , but he coul 1d not· fo1·esee that what should come after wpuld be only the sublin1e carrying out of

. the grand plan. During all tho ~,, s:i:xteen centu.ries through which the building rose toward completion, there was no sottnd of ax ,or h,ammer, no chipp1in·g or hacking to , ma'k,e o,ne, pa.r-t tit its fellow. Everything is in agreement with everything els.e,, b1ecause the whole Bib,le ,va·s, b1uilt ,in the thought of God bef'o·re one book was laid in 1orderi The bui.lding r,ose, ste,adi'ty fr ,om cornerRstone to cap-stone, foundatio ,ns fir.·s't, then 1s·tory after story, pillars on pedestals, and capitals on pillars, and arches on capitals, tilt, like a dome flashing back the splendors of the no,onday ,I the Apoc:alyps,e, spans and crowns and com­Plete,s, the whole,. glorious with celes,tia1 visions .

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2. THE UNITY IS HISTORIC. The, whole B,ible is the: his­tory of the kingdom of God. Israel represents tl1at kingdom. And two things are: 11oti,ceable. All ,cent,ers abo,ut tl1e He,hrew natiori :· Iity. With their origin and progress the tnain his· toric::al portion b,egins ; and witlr1 their apostasy and captivity it stops. TI1e times of the Gentiles ,filled the interval and have no proper his,tory ;, prophecy, which is J1,istory a.nticipated, takes up the 'bro 1ken thr ,ead, and gives us th ,e ot1tline of the future when Israel shall again take its place atnong the nations.

· 3,. THE UNITY ' IS DISPENSATIONAL. There are certain •

uniform dispensational f ea tu res which distinguish every new •

p~riod. Each dispensation is marked by seven features, in the f ol1owing order: (a) Increased light; (b) Decline of spiritual fife; ( c) Union ·between disciples and the world; ( d) A gigan· tic civilization worldly in type ; ( e) Parallel development Of good and evil; (f) Apostasy on the part of God's people; (g) Concluding Judgment. We are now in the seventh dispensa.- . tion, and tI1e same · s,even marks have be·en ttpon all alike, show­ing one controlling power Deus in Historia.

4. THE UNITY IS PROPHETIC. Of all prophecy, there is but one center, The kingdom and the King. 1. Adam, the first killg, lost his scepter by sin. . His probation ended in failure and disaster. 2. The second Adam, ·in I-Iis probation, ,gained the victory, routed the tempter, and stood firm. The · two comings of this Kin ,g Cot1stituted the two focal centers of

. the prophetic ellipse. His first coming was to make pos.sible an empi~e in man and o,,.1ei;-man. His second co.ming wilt be to set that empire up in glory : Atl prophecy moves about these two adv,en,ts., It touches, I sra.el only as relat ,ed to the

. kingdo ,m; and the Gentiles or1ly as related to Israel. Hence, in the Old Tes ,tament, Nineveh, Babylon, and Egyp~t lo,om up as the main foes to the . kingdom, as ~epresented by the He­brews; and in the New Testa1nent, tl1e Beast, Prophet, and Dragon are conspicuous as the giga,nt,ic adversarie ,s ,of that kingdom after Israel again takes her, place. .

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Unity of tl1t Bible t,o Its Inspiratio1i • 59 •

There are some six hundred and sixty .. six general prophe-•

mes in the 0 1ld Testament, . three hundred .~nd thirty-three of \\rhich refer particularly to the coming Messiah, and . meet only in Him. .

5. . THE UNITY IS THEREFOR:E ALSO PERSONAL: •

''In tlie volunie of the Book · , It is written of Me.' '' Th ,ere is but ,one Book, a11,d within it but ,one Person.

Christ is the center of the Q,Id Testament prophecy, as He is of New Testament history: From Genesis 3, to Malachi 3, Re fills out the l1istoric and prophetic profile. Not only do ~he three hundred and thirty-three predictions unite in Iiim, hut even the rites and ceremonies find in Him their only • •

interpreter. Nay, . historic characters prefigure Him, and , his-toric events are the pictorial illustrations of His vicarious rn.inis,try. The Old Testatnent is a lock of which Christ is th·e key. The prophetic plant becomes a burning bush, as twig after twig of prediction flames with f t.11fillment. The crimson thread runs througl1 tl1e whole Bible. Beginning at f,lny point You may preach Jesus. Tl1e profile at first a drawing, with­out color, a mere outline is filled in by successive artists, . Until the life tints glow on the canvas of the centuries, and the Perfect portrait of the Messiah is revealed.

6. THE UNITY 1s SYMBOLIC. I m 1ean that there is ,a co ,r~ .

respond :ing use of ' symbols,, whether in fo,r,m, color, or num­bers.. In form, we have the sqttare, the cube, and the circle, throughout, and used as types of the same truths. In color, We have the white for purity, the lustrous white for glory, the red for gttilt of sin a11d the sacrifice for sin, the blue for truth and fidelitY to promise, the p11rple for royalty, the pale or livid hue for death, and the blacl< for wo1e and disaster. In ·num­bers there is plainly a nutl1ericaI system. One seems to repre­sent uni,ty, two corre -,po,ndence and confirmat ,ion ,or ' contra ,dic­tion, three iS tl1e nun1ber of Godhead, four of the world and 111an. Seven, which is tl1e sum of three and four, stands for.

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the combina ,tion Jof the Divine and l1uman; twelve, the p1r·oduct of three and four, for the Divine i,nterpenetrating the hu~an; ten, the sum of one, two, three, an,d four, is the nun1be1,, of comple,te,11ess; th ·ree and a hal ,f, the broke ,n number, r'epresents tribulation ; six, which sto 1ps short of s,ev·en, is unrest; eight, W'hicl1 is beyond the ·number' of res,t, is the , 11ttmbe1· of victot1· i\ll this implies ,one presiding mind, an,d it could no 't be ,man's mind. ·

7. TI -tE UNITY IS DIDACTIC. In the entire range and sco1pe ,of the ethical teaching of the Bib]e there is no incotl" stste11cy or adulteration. . But we need t10 obs,erve :a distinc­tion maintained throughout as to natural religion and spiritual

. 1"eligion. Tl1ere is a · natural religioI_I. Had man re1nained 101yal to God,, tl1e univers ,al fa th er hood of 1God an ,d the univ 1er,. sal b1·01therh ,ood of 1na11 w1ould have been th 1e two great facts and laws of ht1manity; the b1·oa,d, ade .quate basiis .of th,e natural claim of God to filial obedience, and of n1an t,o fraternal Iove, B·ut n1an sin.ned. He f 1ell from, th 1e filial rel ,atio ,nship; tie di,s­owned God as his Father. I-Ience, the need of a new and spiritua .l relation sh,ip, and relig~io11. In Christ, God's father_. hood is restored and man's br ,otherhood re-established, but these , a.re treat ·ed as un.iversal only to the ci.rcle of believers, ~ new ol)edience is now enf·or 1ced, resting its claim, not 011

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cr·ea,tio11 and providen ,ce, bt1,t on new c1·ea.tio11 and grace. Ma11 •

Jea.rns a super natural .love and life. · Upo11 tl1is di,dactic un~ty we stop to ·expatiate. ·

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. In not 01ie respect are t,he,se doctr i1ia,l a1·id ethical teachitigs in confi,ict, from be,.qi11,ning to end; we fi11d in them a positiv·e onen~s of doct1 .. ir1e which ama,.zes t1.s. Even where at first glance tl1ere appears to be 1conflict, as t,etween Paul and James, we find, 011 closer examination, that instead of stand ing face to face, beating eacl1 other, they stand back to back, beating off common foes~

We cbserve, moreover, a progressive dev,elopment of revr la;tio1i.. Bernhard devoted the powers of l1is master mind to

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Unity of the Bible to Its lnsp-irat-ion 61

tracing the "Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament." lie shows that although the books of the New Testament are not even arranged in the order of their production, that order could not, in one instance, be changed without impairing or destroying the symmetry of the whole book ; and that there is a regular progress in the unfolding of doctrine from the Gospel according to Matthew to the Revelation of St. John.

A wider examination will show the very same progress of doctrine in the whole Bible. l\fost wonderful of all, this moral and didactic unity could not be f uIJy understood till the Book was completed. The progress of preparation, like a · scaffolding about a building, oQscured its beauty; but when John placed the cap-stone in position and declared that nothing fttrther should be added, the scaffolding fell and a grand · tathedral was revealed.

8. THE UNITY IS SCIENTIFIC. The Bible is not a scien­tific book, but it follows one consistent Ia,111. Lik~ an engine ?n its own track, it thunders across the track of science, but ts never diverted from its own.

( 1). No direct teaching or anticipation of scientific truth is here found. (2) . No scientific fact is ever misstated, though con1mon, popular phra seology may be employed. ( 3). A.n elastic set of terms is used, which contain, in germ, all Scientific truth as the acorn en folds the oak.

These statements deserve a little amplification, as this has been supposed to be the weak side of the Bible. Yet, after a study of the Word on the one hand and natural science on the other, I believe we may safe!y challenge any living man to bring one well-established fact of science against which the Bible really and irreconcilably militates!

God led inspired men to use such language, as that with­out teveating scientific facts in advance, it accurately accom­lllodates itself to them when · discovered.

The language is so elastic and flexible as to contract itself to the narrowness of ignorance, and yet expand itself to the

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· ditnensions of knowledge. ' If the Bible may, from imperfect · human language, select terms which may hold hidden truths

till ages to come shall disclo·se the inner mea,ning, that would seem to 1 'be the 'best {solution of this difficult pro'blem. An'd now, when we come to compare the language of the Bible witl1

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· modern .science, we find just this to be the fact •. For example, we are told that the Bible term ''firmament''

is but an ancient blunder crystallized. Modern science says, · ''Ye have heard it hath been said by t'hem of 0114 t.ime, there

is a solid s,phere above us which revolves with its, starry lamps; but this is an old notion of ignorance, for there is no.thing b·ut vast s.p.ace . filled with ethe:r above ns, and stars

·. have an apparent moti ,on becau-se the earth turns on its axis.'' But this wor·d ''firmament," which has be·en declar.ed

''irreconcilable with modern astronomy," we :find, on consult~ ing our Hebrew lexicon, means simply an ''expanse~'' If Moses had been Mitchell, he could not have chosen a better · word to express the appearance, and yet accommodate the rea lity. He actually a11ti·c·ipated sci'ence. Thi s is one of the ' 'mistakes of Moses'' to which the modern blasphemer does no,t ref er! . .

The g~ner·a] cor·respondence between the Mosaic account of creation and the most advanced discoveries of science, prloves th .at only He who built the worl ·d,. built the Book ..

As to the order of creation, Moses and geology agree. Both teach that at first th ere wa s an abyss, or watery waste, whose dense vapors shut out light. Both make life to p,recede light; and the life to develop beneath the abyss. Both make ~e atmosphere to form an expanse by liftipg watery vapors into cloud, and so separating the fountains of · waters above from the fountains below. . Both tell us that continents next lifted themselves from beneath the great deep, and brought forth grass, . herb, and tree. Both teach that the heavens be­came cleared of cloud; and the sun and moon and stars, wl1ich t;hen appeared, began to serve to divide day from night, and

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to become signs for seasons and years. Both then represent the waters bringing forth moving and creeping creatures, and fowl flying in the expanse, followed next by the race of quad-ruped mammals, and, last o.f all, by man himself . ·

There is the same agreement as to the order of animal • •

creation. Geology a.nd comparative anatomy combine to teach • •

that the order was from lower to higher 'types. First,. 'the fish, in which the proportion of brain to spinal cord is as 2 to 1; then reptiles, in which it is as 2}1 to 1 ;· birds, 3 to l; mammals, 4 to 1 ; man, 33 to 1. Now, this is exactly the 0rder of Moses. Who told him what modern science has discovered, that fish and reptiles belong below birds? As Mr. Tullidge say$: ''With the advance of discovery, the opposition sup- · posed to exist between Revelation and Geology has disap-peared; and of the eighty theo ,ries which the French Institute counted in 1806 as hostile to the Bible, not one now stands.''

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Take an example of this scientific accuracy from astron-omy. Says Jeremiah in 30 :22, ''The host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured.'' Hip­parchus about a century and a half before Christ, gave tl1e number of stars as 1,022, and Ptolemy, in the beginning of the seco,nd century of the . Christian era, could find .hut 1,026. We may, on a clear night, with the unaided eye, see only 1,160

· or in the whole celestial S'p,here, about 3,1000. But when the telescope began to be pointed to the heavens, less than three

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centuries ago, by Galileo, the11 men began to know that t~e sta 't .. s are as countless as the sand on the seashore. When Lord Rosse turned his great mirror to the sky, lo ! · the i1um­be·r 1of visible, stars i.nc,reased 'to, 11ea·1~ty 400,0100,000 I · John Herschel resolves the nebulae into suns, and finds in 'the cloudy scarf abottt Orion, ''a go,rgeous bed o·f stars,'' and the Milky Way itself proves to be simply a grand processio n of stars absolutely without number. And so, the exclamation of the prophet, 600 years before Christ, 2,200 years before Gali­leo, ''the host of heaven cannot be numbered:' proves to be not

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a wild, poetic exagger ,ation, ·b1ut liter ·aJ trut ·11. Wh ,o was Jere- · miah's teacher in astronomy ·?

Let us take an example from natural philosophy. Moses '

accords with mode ·rn discoverie ·s as tot .he nature of light, in n@t repres 1ent ·ing this . myst 1ery as being made, but '·'called forth,'' commanded to shine. If lig·ht be only ''a mod 1e: 1of motion,'' how approp ·r·iate su·ch phra seolo1gy 1!

In Job 37: 13, 14, we read of the dayspring that it takes hold of the en 1ds of the 1earth ; it is turned a .s c1a,y to the seal, and they stan .d as a garment .. The ancient cylindrical seals ro1lled over th .e clay, and lef·t an impre .ss of artist .ic beauty. What was without form before ·, stood out in bold relief, like sculpture. So, as the earth revolves, and bri,ngs each portion of its. surface successively under t'he sun's li,ght and heat, what was Oefore dull, dark, dead, discloses and develops beauty, .a,nd tl1e cia.y ,Sitand.s like a garm .en.t, curiou sly ,vrought in bold relief and brilli .ant 1color s. Consider 1ed eitl1er as s,c,ienc,e or poetry, where, in any, O'ther book of· anti 1quity, ca,n you ·find anything equal to that? ' That phrase, ''takes hold of the ends of tl1e earth,' '' conveys the idea of a bending of the rays 0 1f light, like the fin.gers of the hand when they lay hold. WI1en 'the s11nlight would touch the extre :mities ,of the earth, . it is b1e·nt 'by the atm,osphere so as to secure contact, and, but for this, vast portion s, out of tl1e direct line of ·the sun's ,rays, ,vould be dark, cold and dead. Who taught Job, 1,500 years , or more before Christ, to use terms th.at Lon.gfellow 1or Tenny-

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son migl1t c.ovet to 1desc1 .. i.be refraction ? ' 'When the morning stars , sang togeth 1er,'' Job 381 :7, has

been always taken to be a higt1 flight of poetry. And when in the Psalms , 65 :8, we read, '~Thou make st the outgoings of tl1e morning and evening to rej oice,'' the Hebr ,ew word means to give f ortI1 a tremulous sound, or to mal{e vibrations · to sing. In these poetic expressions, what scientific truth was wra .pped up ·1 Light 1com 1es t,o the ey1e in undulations or v·ibr·ati 1ons, as tones of so·und to 'the ear. The ·re is a point at v-1hich these

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\librations . are too rapid or delicate to be d,et 1ect.ed by our sense of hearing; then a more delicate organ, the eye, must take note of them ; they app,eal to the optic nerve instead of the auditory nerve, and as light and not sound. Thus, light reialiy sings,. ''The lowest audible tone i.s made by 16.5 vibrations of air per second ; the highest, by 38,000; between these extremes lie eleven octaves. Vibrations do n,ot cease at 38,000 but our organs are not fitted to hear beyond those limitations.'' And so it is . literal]y true that ''the morning stars sang together.'J Here is Divine Phraseology that has bee11 standing there · for ages uninterrupted. And now we may read it just as it stands: ''Thou ma'kest the outgoings . '[ or light ·radia ·tions] of the morn ·­ing and evening to sing,'' i. e., to give forth sound by vibra-• t :100,.

''Solomon, in Eccles. 12 :6, has left us a poetic description of death. How tl1at ''silver cord'' describes the spinalmar­row ; the ''golden bowl'', the basin which holds the brain ; the ''pitcher'', the lungs ; and the ''wheel'', the heart I

The ci·rc·ulatio,n 0 1f the b,loo,d w.as dis.covered tw 1enty-s .ix hundred years afterward by Harvey. Is it not very remark­able that the language So!omon uses exactly suits the fact · -a wheel pumping up through one pipe to di'scharge through

another? 9. Last of all, THE UNITY OF THE , BIBLE IS ORGANIC,

And th.isl m1ean.s1 it is the unity ,of· organized b·eing. 0 1rg·ani.c unity implies three things: first, that all' parts are ,riecessary to a complete who 1.le ,· second.ly, that all a1jae necessary to c,om-

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f>le1nent each other; anld thirdly, that .all are pervaded by one life-principle .

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L,et· u.s apply thels,e laws, to :the W ,ord .of God. · (1). All tlie parts of the Bible are necessary lo its co~

lleteness. Organic unity is dependent on the existence and co­operation of organs. An o,ratorio is not an organic unit. Any part of it may be separated from tlie rest, or displaced by a

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But if this body of mine loses a11 eye, a limb, o~ . the '

smallest joint of the finger, it is f 1orev er maimed; its com-pleteness is gone. .

Not one of th1e books of the Bible could he l,ost without maiming the body of ti-uth here contained. Every book fills a place.. N o~e can be omitted. , · _

For example, the Book of Esther has long been criticised as not necessary to the completeness of the Cano ,nt and par­ticularly, bec3u se ''it does not even once contain tl1e name of Go,,d.'' But that book is t·h,e most complete exh.ibition of the pr .evidence o,f God. It teache ·s a Divine Hand · behind human a.ffairs; u·nbia.sed fr ,eedo,m of res.olu.tion a11d actio·n as con­sistent with God's ovetruling sove1·eignty; and all things W '0 1rking toge ·ther to pr 1oduce grand res ·ults. The boo'k that thus exl1ibits God's providence does not contai11 the name of · ,God ; perhap s b·e-ca'Us.e· t~is book is mean·t to teae_h us of the Hidden Hand that, unseen, moves and controls all things.

''Ruth'' seems to be only a love-story to some; but how rich this book is in foreshadowings of Gospel truth, especially illustrating tl1e double nature of the God-man, our Redeemer.

Boaz ls a type of Christ Lord of the Harvest, Dispenser • •

of Bread, Giver of Rest, He is Goel the Redeemer. ~oaz, the near kinsma n, buying back the lost inheritance and marry­ing Ruth, suggest s Je sus, the God-man, our near Kinsman, yet of a higher family, the Redeemer of our lost estate, and

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Bridegroom of the reqeem~d Church. · The Epis'1e to Philemon seems at first only a letter to a

friend about a ru~away slave. B,ut this Jetter is full o·f illus­. trations of grace. The sinner has run away fl"om God; and

robbed Him besides. The law allows h.im no right of asylu.m ; •

but grace concedes, him the privilege of appeal.. Christ,. God's Pa.rtnert intercedes. He sends him back to the Father, no more a slav 1e but a s,on.

(2). The second law of organic unity is lhat all parts cc-re 11ec•ssary to, compleme·nt ea,ch otlier .

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•

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, Ct1vier has fr ,amed in scientific st.atement tl1i.s law of unity,

Organized being in every case forms a wl1ole, a complete s,ystem all parts of which mutually correspond; none of these Parts can change without the other also chang ·ing; and con­sequently each taken separately indicates and gives all the Others,. F~or instance , th,e .sharp-pointe ,d too~h of the },io·n re,~ quires a strong jaw; . these demand a skull fitted for the attach­tne11t o·f powerful muscles, both for moving the jaw and raising the head ; a broad, well developed shoulder-blade must accom-

.

Pa,ny siuch a 'head; and there m,ust be an arrangeme ,nt of bones of the leg whicl1 admits of the leg-paw being rotated and turned upward, in order to be used as an instrument to seize · and tear the prey .; and of ,cour se th ere must be strong claws arming the paw. Hence from one tooth, the animal could be lllodeled. though the specie s had peri shed.

Thus the Four Gospels are necessary to each other and to the whole Bible. Each present s the subject from a different J)oint of view, and . the combination give s us a Divine Per­son reflected, projected befo re Us, like an object with pro· Portions and dimensions. - .

Matthew wrote for the Jew, an 1d sho 1ws Jesus ,as the King of the Jews, the Royal ·Lawgiver. Mark wrote for the lloman, and shows Him as the Power of God,. the Mighty­Wo,rker. Luke wrote for the Greek, and shows ·Him as the Wisdom of God, the human Teacl1er and Fri 1end. John, \\rriting to supplement and co1mplemen,t th 1e other Gos~ls, S,hows Him as Son of God, as well as Son of man, having and giving et,ernal Ji,fe. .

These are not Gosp,els of Matthew, etc., but 1Jne Gospel •f Chr-ist~ according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and Jolin. The first three present the person and work of Christ from the 0u.tward, earthly sid 1e ·; the last,. from the inward and h,eavenly.

is humanity, 1n John His d1v1n1ty. So, 1n the close of each: •

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68 The Fundamentals

in Matthew His resurrection, in Mark His ascension, in Luke His parting benediction and promise of enduement, and itl John the added hint of His second coming.

The Epistles are likewise all necessary to complete the whole and complement each other. There are five writers, each having hi~ own sphere of truth. Paul's great theme is Faith, and its relations to justification, sanctification, service, joy and glory. James treats of Works, their relation to faith, as its justification before man. He is the counterpart and complement of Paul. Peter deals with Hope, as the inspira" tion of God's pilgrim people. John's theme is Love, and its relation to the light and life of God as manifested in the believer. In his Gospel, he exhibits eternal life in Christ; it1 his epistles, eternal life as seen in the believer. Jude sounds the trumpet of warning against apostasy, which implies the wreck of faith, the delusion of false hope, love grown cold, and the utter decay of good works. What one of all these writers could we drop from the New Testament?

The Unity of the Bible is the unity of one organic whole, The decalogue demands the Sermon on the Mount. Isaiah's prophecy makes necessary the narrative of the Evangelists, Daniel fits into the Revelation as bone fits socket. Leviticus explains, and is explained by, the Epistle to the Hebrews, The Psalms express the highest morality and spirituality of the Old Testament; they link the Mosaic code with the Divine ethics of the Gospels and the Epistles. The passover fore" shadows the Lord's supper, and the Lord's supper interprets and fulfills the passover. Even the little book of Jonah makes more complete the sublime Gospel according to John; and Ruth and Esther prophetically hint the Acts of the ApostJeS· Nay, when you come to the last chapters of Revelation, yotl find yourself mysteriously touching the first chapters of Genesis ; and lo ! as you survey the whole track of your thought, you find you have been fallowing the perimeter of a golden ring ; the extremities actually bend around, toucl1f

Unity of the Bible to Its Inspiration 69

and blend. You read in the first of Genesis of the first creation; in the last of the Revelation, of the new creation­the new heaven and the new earth; there, of the river that Watered the garden; here, of the pure river of the water of life; there, of the Tree of Life in the first Eden ; here, of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God; there, of the God who came down to walk with and talk With man; here, we read that the Tabernacle of God is with tnen; there, we read of the curse that came by sin, here, we tead: "And there shall be no more curse."

(3). The third and last law of organic unity is, that one life principle must pervade the whole. The Life of God is in liis Word. That Word is "quick"-living. Is it a mirror? Yes, but such a mirror as the living eye; is it a seed? yes, but a seed hiding the vitality of God; is it a sword? yes, but a sword that omnisciently discerns and :>mnipotently pierces the human heart. Hold it reverently; for you have a living Book in your hand. Speak to it, and it will answer · you. Bend down and listen ; you shall hear in it the heart-~hrobs of God.

This Book, thus one, we are to hold forth as the WorcJ of Life and the Light of God, in the midst of a crooked and Perver se generation. We shall meet oppo sition. Like the birds that beat themselves into insensibility against the light in the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, the creatures of darkness will assault this Word, and vainly seek to put out its eternal light. But they shall only fall stunned and defeated at its base, while it still rises from its rock pedestal, itnmovable and serene l