Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 159, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1914 — hack to the Bible [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

hack to the Bible

Application ct the Scriptures to the World Today as Seen by Emi* sent Hen in Various Walks o! Life

(Copyright. 1914. by Joseph B. Bowles)

DIVORCE FROM SCRIPTURE? VIEWPOINT.

(By JOHN N. JTCORMTCK. D. D„ Blahop of the Protestant Episcopal Church.) "The Bible is the charter of all true " liberty; "the fashioner of law, the se- ‘ cret of national progress, the molder of Institutions and governments."— Bishop William F. Anderson *. , . . . - . Divorce was permitted under certain conditions in the Old Testament. In

the time of the prophets it was abused. Malachi’s words might apply to our own day: “Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou has dealt treacherously; yet is she thy c o m p a n ion and the wife of thy covenant.” In the-New Testament our Lord’s teaching in regard to divorce is set forth most com-

pletely in SL Matthew 19:3-12: The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man -to put away his wife for every caqse? And he answered and said unto them. Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female? And said: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh, Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. They say unto him: Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses. because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives; but from the beginning It was not so. And I say unto you. Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which Is put away doth commit adul-

tery. All expositors are agreed that the New Testament thus sets before men’s eyes the indissolubility of marriage as the goal to which they are unceasingly to aspire. If our Lord’s teaching makes any exception it is only as to the remarriage of the innocent party in a divorce on tiie ground of adultery. The present ratio of divorce in America is supposed to be one to every twelve marriages. Our country is known as the land of easy divorce, and public opinion is in danger of becoming ipore tolerant towards it. What -used to be shameful is now almost respectable. In reality divorce belongs to tiie domain of social pathology, because it is a diseased condition of the family, which is a vital organ of society. X Divorce is an outrage to civilized thought and feeling, because it is a crime against childhood. Divorce is a menace to the nation because it shadows and shatters the home. Divorce is. a dishonor to civilized manhood and womanhood because it 13 a confession of failure and an acknowledgment of weakness. In combatting this evil the Bible is on our side. If the passage quoted from St Matthew were the law of the land most of our divorce courts could be closed within twenty-four hours.

A BOOK THAT CONQUERS. (By SELDEN PALMER SPENCER, PH. D* LL. D., Fortner Judge and Past President Missouri Bar Association.) “The first leaf of the Mosaic record has more weight than all the folios of men and philosophy.”—Jean Paul Richter.

ft-• When at the beginning of the fourth century A. D. the Roman emperor Dio-

eletian drenched the empire with the blood of Christian martyrs and struck off a medal to commemorate the complete ending of Christianity, he 11111 o dreamed that almost immediately it was to arise triumphant, numbering among its converts the Emperor Constantine. And just as little did the brilliant Voltaire realize, when at the end of the

eighteenth century he prophesied confidently that within a hundred years the Bible would be an unknown book, that ere long the very house in which he lived was to be a Bible depository, and that in the century ahead the Bible was to be circulated ,In steadily increasing ratio, reaching many millions of copies anI believe the Bible is God’s book because it has stood the test of centuries, constantly increasing in influence and overcoming, every obstacle, tt has blessed every person and every «tlon which has ever yielded to its

precepts. Immorality and brutality, tyranny and injustice' alike disappear before its teachings. The Savior it alone proclaims has been the sole dependence of countless millions in life and in death. None has ever trusted 1 Him in vain. More and more as modern archaeology advances Is the faith of those who believe the Bible’s history to be inerrant seen to be justified. Its supposed Inaccuracies have been/rapidly vanishing before the testimony of monuments and tablets which had been buried for thousands of years. Hundreds of the Bible’s prophecies have been literally fulfilled. Its wisdom to beyond the full comprehension of the greatest of human Intellects, yet is comprehensible to a child. Two thousand five hundred and eighty-four times, scattered through its sacred pages, Its divine authorship is stated by the most positive affirmations, as “Thus saith the Lord,” "God spake all these words,” etc. I therefore accept the Bible’s testimony as absolutely and unerringly true, for back of it stands God.

THE EFFECT OF BELIEF UPON CONDUCT. (By His Eminence JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS.) 4 "I have always said, I always will say. that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers and better, husbands."—Thomas Jefferson.

Some persons are fond of using this popular maxim: It matters not what

I believe provided I am an honest man. But this maxim is more plausible than solid. Religion without fixed belief is sentimental, emotional and vapory —it evaporates at the first breeze of temptation. The superstructure of moral integrity must rest on the solid basis of dogmatic truth and intellectual conviction. How can I love God un-

less 1 believe in Him as the author of my being and the source of every blessing I receive? How can I be always honest and equitable toward my neighbor unless I am convinced that there is a Supreme Judge who will hold me responsible for every violation of my just obligations? How can I be moved to avoid secret sins and to curb my passions unless I am confronted with the thought that the all-seeing eye of God is upon me? There never was a martyr or hero that was not a man of strong faith and earnest convictions. 1 do not know of any revealed truth that can exercise so dominant an influence on our moral conduct as the belief in the abiding presence of God. The more we are penetrated with this thought the more perfectly shall we possess interior freedom, indifference to human judgment, and a habitual disposition to rectitude of conduct. God seeth me! He readeth the hidden thoughts of my heart, and He is a God who hateth iniquity. Should not this salutary reflection deter me from sin? 1 Who, I ask, would stealthily defraud his neighbor did he remember that the eye of the great Detective is upon him, and that He will exact even to the last farthing? Who would not tremble to tell a deliberate lie did he remember that he lies before the God of truth. God seeth me! How many thousands has this simple reflection preserved from Bin! How many others has it drawn out of the vortex of crime! If the sense of God’s presence is a terror to evildoers, what delight, consolation and joy is it to the devout man to bask-in the sunshine of His protecting providence! Under that sweet care, he feels that he is in the company of his Father, his Friend and his Benefactor.