Nevertheless, the supreme religious value of the Bible is attested by Christian experience; and it appears to me a rash and unreasonable demand that, because we have ceased to believe in its infallibility, Bampton Lectures; and perhaps for this reason the final statement of results is not quite so helpful as it would otherwise be. A man who has held the ancient doctrine, and believed that in every line of the Bible he had the words of infallible wisdom, feels himself alone in space when this doctrine crumbles beneath his feet; and for him the "dilemma 'all or nothing,'" which Professor Sanday so justly deprecates (p. 428), is for a time inevitable. It seems to me that we can meet this state of mind only by the frankest and fullest recognition of the reality of the dilemma in regard to the particular phase of thought under consideration, the reliance on an external authority which rests on an infallible basis. For this phase of thought we have to provide a substitute; and though within the realm of spiritual experience and religious reverence towards the Bible there is an unquestionable resemblance between the two views, yet on the intellectual side, when reduced to doctrinal form, they are wholly incompatible. The changed opinion about the Bible is nothing less than a revolution in Christian theology; but it will surely bring, as its final result, a deeper appreciation of the spirit of our religion. The lamented Mr. Aubrey Moore puts the case very clearly when he says: "The religious idea of God must claim and justify itself to the highest known morality, and no amount of authority, ecclesiastical or civil, will make men worship an immoral God. And already that truth has thrown back its light upon questions of Old Testament morality. We no longer say, 'It is in the Bible, approved or allowed by God, and therefore it must be right.' It was this view which, in every age, has given its protection to religious wars and intolerance and persecution." ("The Christian Doctrine of God," in Luc Mundi, p. 82.) ITS HISTORICAL CLAIM. 97 we should therefore plunge it down into the common mass of literature, break up the Canon, and read indiscriminately in our public worship whatever happens to strike the private fancy as edifying. To put the question upon no higher ground, the Bible has an historical claim which cannot be altered by any change of doctrine. It contains the records of the origin of Christianity, and the first outpouring of the Christian spirit in literature. It is the fountain from which the stream of Christian inspiration has been fed through all the centuries. It has in consequence a timehonoured wealth of association, and a universality of reverence, which cannot possibly be communicated to any freshly imported literature; and consequently, for those who wish to live in the deepest life of man, and not in the isolation of individual peculiarity, it speaks with an accumulated power which places it alone in the love and gratitude of their hearts. Let us glance at some of the effects which it has wrought in innumerable minds, remembering that these effects are not due to any particular dogma, but are rather the foundation which, through the strength of wonder and thankfulness, has supported a theory that was incapable of rational proof. H First, then, it has held up a mirror to the conscience, reminding man that he stands in presence of the Holy One to whom he must give account, and exhibiting side by side the perfection of righteousness and the soiled and misshapen image of himself. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."1 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I have become sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."2 "He that loveth not his brother abides in death." Examples might of course be multiplied indefinitely. In the Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, as well as in the New Testament, are words that pierce to the central seats of life, and, touching the conscience to the quick, waken there the sleeping echoes, a voice of God within responsive to his word without. Again, the Bible has brought home to our minds numerous spiritual suggestions or truths at which the heart bounds as though it had discovered some longsought treasure, or in which the anxious thought rests as giving satisfaction to its difficulties and doubts. "God is Spirit, and they that worship him must wor2 1 Cor. xiii. 1. 1 Gal. vi. 7. 3 1 John iii. 14. ITS SPIRITUAL POWER. 99 ship him in spirit and truth."1 "God is love, and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him." 2 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." These are a few sample grains of gold out of the storehouse, which "skilful money-changers" recognize as genuine; they want no outward guarantee, for they have the witness in themselves. Once more, the Bible has strengthened and deepened our devout feeling, and caused the many strings of reverent and holy love within the heart to vibrate as to the touch of a heavenly musician. "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." "The Lord is my light and my 4 salvation; whom shall I fear ?" 5 "Not my will, but thine, be done."6"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my power is made perfect in weakness."8 But passage after passage rushes on the memory, and time would fail were I to attempt even to illustrate the abundance of devotional utterance in the Scriptures, which gives articulate expression to our own unshaped 1 John iv. 24. 2 1 John iv. 16. 3 Matt. v. 8. 7 Ps. xxxi. 5; Luke xxiii. 46. yearnings, and falls upon the ear like some halfremembered melody, reminding us of our heavenly home, as of a native land where once we aspired and prayed. And, lastly, what comfort the Bible has poured upon stricken hearts, bringing trust and hope to assuage the bitterness of grief! "Remember, O Lord, thy your God."4 tender mercies, and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old." "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."2 "O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee."3 "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith "All things work together for good to those that love God."5 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."6 How many generations of weepers have treasured such words as these, and pondered them in their hearts! How many baffled combatants for truth and righteousness have gained from them new strength to stand in the evil hour! How many have passed tranquilly through the pain and stress of |