and Thucydides, and Aristotle, and Plato, and Sophocles, and Eschylus; but they would not, and could not, make one volume, having a beginning, a middle, and an end. There is no reason why it should begin thus, why it should advance thus; and there is no catastrophe at its close. It is one book. They are many books. There is no unity. They are not the production of one class of men, except as the Greeks in general were distinguished from the rest of mankind.

XII.

By FRANCIS (LORD VERULAM) BACON.

1561-1626.

The Bible the best Revealer of God, and the best Source

T

of Theology.

HY creatures have been my books, but Thy Scriptures much more: I have sought Thee in the courts, fields, and gardens. but I have found Thee in Thy temples.

I am persuaded, that if the choicest and best of those observations upon texts of Scripture which have been made dispersedly

in sermons within the island of Britain, by the space of these forty years and more, had been set down in a continuance, it had been the best work on divinity which had been written since the apostles' times.

XIII.

By J. W. V. GOETHE.- 1749-1832.

THE

The Bible and Reason.

HE farther the ages advance in cultivation, the more can the Bible be used, partly as the foundation, partly as the means, of education, not, of course, by superficial, but by really wise men.

XIV.

By JOHANN KEPLER. — - 1571-1630.

The Language of the Scriptures Popular, not Scientific.

WE

E astronomers say, with the common people, the planets stand still or go down; the sun rises and sets. How much less should we require that the Scriptures of divine inspiration, setting aside the common

modes of speech, should shape their words according to the model of the natural sciences, and, by employing a dark and inappropriate phraseology about things which surpass the comprehension of those whom it designs to instruct, perplex the simple people of God, and thus obstruct its own way towards the attainment of the far more exalted object at which it aims I

XV.

By M. F. MAURY, LL.D. - Born 1806.
The Bible and Science.

HAVE been blamed by men of science, both in this country and in England, for quoting the Bible in confirmation of the doctrines of physical geography. The Bible, they say, was not written for scientific purposes, and is therefore of no authority. I beg pardon the Bible is authority for every thing it touches. What would you think of the historian who should refuse to consult the historical records of the Bible, because the Bible was not written for the purpose of history? The Bible is true, and science is true; and when your man of science, with vain and

hasty conceit, announces the discovery of a disagreement between them, rely upon it, the fault is not with the witness or his records, but with the "worm" who essays to interpret evidence which he does not understand.

When I, a pioneer in one department of this beautiful science, discover the truths of revelation and the truths of science reflecting light one upon the other, and each sustaining the other, how can I, as a truth-loving, knowl edge-seeking man, fail to point out the beauty, and rejoice in the discovery? And were I to suppress the emotions with which such discoveries ought to stir the soul, the waves of the sea would lift up their voice, and the very stones of the earth cry out against me.

XVI.

By BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, M.D., LL.D., late Professor in Yale College. 1779-1864.

THE

The Bible not contradicted by Science.

HE relation of geology, as well as astronomy, to the Bible, when both are well understood, is that of perfect harmony. The Bible nowhere limits the age of our

globe, while its chronology assigns a recent origin to the human race; and geology not only confirms the truth of the history of man, but it affords decisive evidence that the Genesis presents a true statement of the progress. of the terrestrial arrangements, and of the introduction of living beings in the order in which their fossil remains are found entombed in the strata. The Word and the works of God cannot be in conflict; and, the more they are studied, the more perfect will their harmony appear.

XVII.

By Archbishop RICHARD WHATELY, D.D.→→ Born 1789.

That there are Difficulties in the Bible, Reasonable.

HAT there are difficulties in many parts

THAT

of Scripture, and that there is consequent danger of mischievous perversion, is undeniable, and is, indeed, what analogy would prepare us to expect; for if the Scriptures could be properly understood without any trouble, and were incapable of perversion to