The Bible of Bibles; Or, Twenty-Seven "Divine" Revelations. Kersey Graves

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CHAPTER XIV.—THE INFIDELS' BIBLE.

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      We find the remarkable admission in the Christian Bible, that the moral guide adopted by infidels is superior to that book which Christians have adopted for a guide. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, says, "The Gentiles, who have not the Bible, do by nature the things contained in the Bible." An astonishing Bible concession, truly! He, however, uses the word "law" for Bible; but commentators tell us the law is contained in the Bible, and some writers make "law" and "Bible" synonymous terms. We therefore give the sense more fully by rendering it "Bible" instead of "law." It is here admitted by Paul, that the great Bible of Nature, written upon man's consciousness, and inscribed upon every thing around him, which is the infidels' Bible and revelation, is superior to any printed Bible. If man learns by nature the moral lessons taught by the Bible or moral law (that is by nature's laws, as learned by observation and experience, which is the infidel's sole reliance for learning the great lessons and duties of life), then this natural revelation, which Paul commends so highly, is superior to any written preprinted revelation. If, as Paul teaches, the ignorant, illiterate Gentile can learn by this revelation of nature, or law of nature, the duties of life, the great truths of salvation, and the right road to heaven, then it must be greatly superior to the Christians' Bible. For it is admitted by Christians themselves (foreign missionaries), that, with all the aid that priests and commentators can render, there is a considerable portion of their Bible which the heathen can not learn or be made to understand. But not so, according to Paul, with God's natural Bible, and the revelation inscribed on man's moral nature, and learned by the exercise of his common sense, natural judgment, and the experience of mankind in general. Hence we have a Bible which is not only easily read and easily understood by even the unlettered heathen, but a Bible which possesses many advantages over all printed Bibles, some of which I will mention. In the first place, it is a Bible always open. It can not be kept closed under lock and key, as the Christian Bible has been in past ages. Second, It is a Bible that needs no translation in any language; for it is already written in the languages all the nations of the earth. Third, It is a Bible, thank God! that all, whether high or low, learned or unlearned, can read and understand. Its glorious truths are easily read; for they are plainly and legibly inscribed upon every leaf and page of the soul of every human being. Fourth, Hence this revelation needs no priest to expound it, and no church to unravel its mysteries, by voluminous commentaries. Sixth, No concordance is needed to enable its readers to find its golden gems, which glitter and sparkle upon every page. They are what the Quakers call "the light within." Seventh, Neither moths nor mice can destroy this glorious Bible. Fire can not consume it, nor water wash it away. It is imperishable and eternal. It is a Bible into which no errors have ever crept, either by printers, transcribers, or translators. And (soul-cheering thought!) it is a Bible which contains all the important doctrines, principles, and precepts which can be found in any perishable paper-and-ink Bible, and all the grand truths that God ever vouchsafed to man. They can all be found in this golden-leaved Bible, this eternal, soul-saving revelation of God.

      Jesus refers to this natural Bible, or revelation, again when he say's, "Know ye not of yourselves what is right? "—that is, by the Bible planted in your own souls, the revelation stereotyped upon your own moral sense or moral nature. Hence the virtual acknowledgment by Jesus (who is Bible authority), that there is no necessity of running to any printed or paste-board Bible to learn the truths of the gospel or the duties of life; for he teaches the important lesson that we may learn them in our own inward selves. We can "know of ourselves what is right." And there are other texts which admit that God's first revelation, and his last and only revelation, to the human race, is far superior to that of any books of human origin; and which admit that this glorious revelation can not be found In the Christian Bible, or any other perishable book, but existed for ages before any paper-and-ink Bible was ever thought of.

      I will quote one other text to prove these statements, and in further confirmation of the proposition that the Christian Bible itself admits that the infidels' Bible, direct from the hand of God, is greatly superior to it in all the essential features and principles of a Bible. Paul concedes this when he says, in his epistle to the Romans, "The invisible things of God are clearly seen and understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead" (Rom. i. 20). Now, here it is proved, if any thing can be proved by the Bible, that every thing that can be learned about God and religion can be found written upon the tablets of nature, and inscribed upon every thing that is made. For it is declared, that even the "invisible things of God"—that is, the great spiritual truths of the kingdom—can be seen and learned by the revelations, or lessons, written upon things "that are made." A wonderful admission, truly! It is stated, they can not only be seen, but "clearly seen and understood," by studying the things "that are made," and learning their important lessons. If, then, they can be "clearly seen and understood," there is not the shadow of a doubt left upon the mind as to their truth or meaning: you are not annoyed with that perplexity, uncertainty, and painful anxiety about the meaning of moral lessons they teach, as you are with respect to hundreds of texts you find in the Christian Bible. This is a grand revelation and declaration and benefit, truly. And "even his eternal power and Godhead,"—that is, God's character and attributes,—we are here told, can be learned by reading and studying this beautiful and easily comprehended Bible, written by the finger of God upon every leaf and page of nature.

      Was there ever a more important, more pleasing, or more beautiful revelation made to the world than this of Paul's? And is it not surprising that Christians have never noticed this most important admission? It is an important moral lesson that throws СКАЧАТЬ