Present Knowledge and Influence of the Bible

Source: The Biblical World, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Apr., 1903), pp. 243-247
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3140490
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THE
vOLUME

XXI

Bl

BLICAL
APRIL,I903

WORLD
NUMBER

PRESENT KNOWLEDGE AND INFLUENCE OF THE

BIBLE.
THE Bible has been the chief book of humanity for more than
eighteen hundred years. As a book of religion and morality,
GROWTH
OF
and also as a book of history and literature, it has
/NTEREST
IN
received the greatest and best attention of men.
JHEBIBLE
The knowledge of the Bible has been counted the
most important furnishing of the mind and heart, and the influence of the Bible has been supreme in the lives of those who
have made modern civilization. The Bible was never known as
well, nor was its influence ever so great, as at the present time.
People sometimes speak now as though the Bible were receiving
less attention than formerly. This, however, is not the case.
The numberof Bibles which are printed every year has increased
enormously, and the number of persons who read the Bible has
also increased.
The difference is not so much in the amount of attention which
the Bible receives, as in the way in which the Bible is used and
viewed. Family worship is not so common as a
THECHANGE
OF
USE ANDV/EW generatlon or two ago, but thls 1S not because plety
has declined, or the Bible become less valued;
rather, it is due to the changing customs in family life and the
modern "rush" of business, school, and society. The committing of Scripture to memory is also less frequent than formerly,
but this is not because the Bible is thought to be superseded
by other religious literature; rather, because " committing to
243

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<

ER

THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH.

The Manuscriptis in the Form of a Roll, and is Inclosed in a Silver CCase.

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244

TEE BIBLICAL WORLD

memory" is in these days a disputed pedagogical method.

Undoubtedlythere is a loss that comes from the decline of
familyworshipand of Scripturememorization. Both shouldbe
re-established.
This loss, however,has been more than compensatedby a
betterwayof readingand applyingthe Bible. Whereasformerly
it had been the customto use the Bible almostwhollyas a devotional book, and as a sort of mystical guide to conduct and
belief, the rise of the modernhistoricalspirithas broughtthinking people largel to view the Bible froma historicalstandpoint,
and to study it in a historicalway. Not that the Biblehas come
to be regardedas antiquatedand having no presentvalue, but
that its value for the present must be ascertainedby an intelligent understanding
of its originandcharacteristics,
andits meaning to those who wrote the several books. In other words,
there are principlesof interpretationwhichmust be applied to
the Scripturein orderto obtaintheir meaningfor ?tS. To lcnow
what these principlesof interpretationare, and to apply them
competently,requiresability,knowledge,and training.
The total gain fromthis changeis very great, althoughas yet
it fails to be appreciatedby manypeople. Those who note the
declineof the formeruse and view of the Bible, but do not perceive the ascendencyand superiorityof the modern use and
view,think that the Bible has sufferedeclipse. Yet nothingcan
be fartherfromthe fact. The betterunderstandingof the Bible
which has now come to prevail improvesthe use and extends
the influenceof the Bible in a way neverbeforeattained.
In unenlightenedperiodsof history,and amongunintelligent
people, misconceptionsabout the Bible, misinterpretationsof
THEBIBLE
its meaning,and false applicationsof its teaching
NEITHERA
FET/CHhaVe existed. It is not strange that survivalsof
NORA TAL/SMAN
these ideas and practices may be found today.
Even yet there are those who look uponthe Bible as a ;'divine
deposit" directfromthe pen of God, not given throughmen or
rnediatedto men, with no humanelement or limitation,as complete and absolute a revelationas God could ever make. The

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EDI TORIAL

245

book is conceived as having a mysterious sanctity about it, to be

appreciated in a sort of religious ecstasy in which, as Paul said
of the tongue-speaking at Corinth, "the mind is inactive." The
very paper and ink of the book are thought to be " holy," and
the material presence of the book is believed to bring blessing,
like the handkerchiefs and aprons which llad been in contact
Such persons think the Bible
with Paul's body (Acts I9: I2).
a book not to be studied or understood in arl ordinarysense, but
a sort of fetich or idol to be worshiped, or to be consulted like
an oracle. The custom has been seriously practiced of opening
the book at random to find a passage for specific guidance, a
proceeding analogous to the casting of lots. This idea and
use of the Bible is similar to that which has obtained in the
Roman Catholic church with regard to the mysterious resident
eicacy of the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. The whole
general conception out of which such a view arises is a part of
the superstition of the unenlightened mind. To worship the
Bible without intelligently appreciating it, or to consult the
Bible for guidance without knowledge and judgment as to how
its utterances are to be applied to one's own affairs, is an action
of superstition.
During the last fifty years we have seen, as perhaps never
before, the error and the bad effects of the superstitious conception and use of the Bible. The extension of popular
THEBIBLEA
education has produced a general intelligence, and a
OF
RECORD
historical knowledge and judgment, which require
GOD'S
REVELATIOH that the Bible shall be understood and applied
rightly. Men have come to consider what the Bible is, why it
exists, and what is its mission in the world.
The Bible is a collection of books which were written at different times by different persons for specific purposes, and out
of particularsituations. The chief aim and interest of the biblical
writers was religion and morality. They found God present in
the world, working out a certain great and beneficent plan for
man. They found him also within their own experience informing their thought, their character, and their activity. To their

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246

TEE BIBLICAL WORLD

mindsthe universecame fromGod, and existed to fulfilhis will.

Moreover,he himselfwas presentin power,wisdom,and love to
workout in men and through men his eternal purposes. The
biblical writerssought to express for the religious and moral
benefitof theirfellow-menthe conceptionandexperienceof God
whichthey themselveshad. In other words,God was revealing
himselfcontinuouslyin them and throughthem, in the eventsof
life whichthey observedor with whichthey wereconnected,and
in the phenomenaof nature. The world was alive with God.
These men sawhim, felt him, and heardhim.
For this reasonthey wrotethese books,and it is this element
in themthat has madethe Biblea treasure-house
of religiousand
moralwisdom,and an inspirationto the best thereis in the world.
They wroteto andfor theirown generation,withall that is therein
involvedas to pointof view,modeof thought,style of expression,
and concreteinstruction. Nevertheless,they were dealing with
eternaltruthand with the permanentprinciplesof characterand
duty; they hada truevisionof God andrighteousnessandhuman
obligation. Thereforetheir messageshave a surpassingpermanent value. And in the gospels we have a trustworthyand adequaterecordof Christ'sown life and teaching,which revealto
us in a uniqueand supremewaywhat Godwouldhavemenknow
and do.
It is becausethe Bible contains these recordsof God'srevelation, and these accountsof the religious and moralgrowthof
TESEPRACrlCALmen, that the Bible is for us also a book supremelv
VALUEOF
worthy of men's knowledge, and worthy of the
rHE BIBLE
greatest influencewhich it can exert. It is one
thing to exalt the Bible simplybecauseit has been stampedwith
the signet of previousgenerationsof Christians,witholutascertaininga particularvaluationof it for ourselvesat the present
time; it is quiteanotherthing, and the thingof chief importance,
to exalt the Bible becausewe knowby an intelligentacquaintance
with it, and judgmentof it, that it now containsthe highest wisdom and the greatest inspirationregardingmattersof religion
and morality.

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EDI TORIAL

247

Historicalstudentsof the Bible surpassthe conventionalworshipersof the Bible in their exaltation of its practicalvalue for
men today. It is sometimes incorrectlyassumed that people
who study the Bible historicallystudyit so becausethey thinkit
merelya narrativeof past facts which have no present signification. But the fact is that the historicalstudyof the Biblehas
been the efficientmeansof making the Bible practicallyunderstood, and of revealing its practicalsignificancefor the present
generation. The changeof use and view of the Bible will be in
its outcomeentirely for the good of the Bible and of humanity,
becauseit enablesmen to use the Biblecorrectlyforwhatit is.
The Biblehas not yet accomplishedits full mission. In God's
providenceit has existed and now exists for the purposeof guidlRs FULLESr ing and inspiringmen to true religionand morality.
It has in part performedthis mission, as we well
/NFLUENCE
yEr ro COME know,becausethe Bible more than any other body
of literaturehas made the religion and moralityof the present
time. But true religionand true moralityhave been as yet only
partiallyachieved,and the greater part is still to come. The
fullestinfluenceof the Bibleis thereforestill in the future,andwe
who labortoday to exalt the Bible are seeking to secureits true
andcompleteinfluencein the ^^rorld.No one thereforecan have
a higherappreciationof the practicalvalue of the Bible thanthe
historicalstudentof it, and no one can labormoreeffectivelyfor
the accomplishmentof its ultimatepurposethanhe. The extension of the historicalstudy of the Bible is the best thing that we
can now do to bring aboutthe true understandingand appreciation of the book. Manythinkingpeople will not continueto use
the Bibleirlthe superstitiousor erroneouswaywhichis still more
or less in vogue from the past. They will, however,use it and
be influencedby it when they, by a historicalstudy of the book,
understandthe Bibleas it was and as it is. To promotethe true
understanding,appreciation,and use of the book is thereforethe
presentobligationof all those whoseinterest,ability,andtraining
qualifythem to teach the Bible.

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