The Bible and Life Part 1

The Bible and Life.

by Edwin Holt Hughes.

INTRODUCTION

By the courteous invitation of the President, Faculty, and Trustees of DePauw University, the writer had the privilege of delivering the first series of lectures under the foundation as endowed by his friend, the Rev.

Marmaduke H. Mendenhall. The following comments are the only introductory words that need be given.

The terms of the lectures were kept strictly within the radius of real life. The author does not claim to be a biblical scholar in any technical sense. Nor did he deem that the primary need of the students whom he addressed would be met by a discussion of theories of inspiration or of dates and authors.h.i.+ps. College students have a pa.s.sion for reality, and the most convincing apologetic for them is the argument from actual living.

Under the instruction of the founder the lectures are to be placed in permanent form for the students of the University and for the wider public. The lecturer having been rewarded by the close attention of hundreds of youthful hearers, the writer will have a still greater reward if those who heard the words as spoken in Meharry Hall are joined by the larger company who will listen for the voice of the Spirit in these pages.

EDWIN HOLT HUGHES.

THE MENDENHALL LECTURES

FOREWORD

The late Reverend Marmaduke H. Mendenhall, D.D., of the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, donated to DePauw University the sum of ten thousand dollars, the purpose and conditions of which gift are set forth in his bequest as follows:

The object of this gift is "to found a perpetual lectures.h.i.+p on the evidences of the Divine Origin of Christianity, to be known as the Mendenhall Foundation. The income from this fund shall be used for the support of an Annual Lectures.h.i.+p, the design of which shall be the exhibition of the proofs, from all sources, of the Divine Origin, Inspiration, and Authority of the Holy Scriptures. The course of lectures shall be delivered annually before the University and the public without any charge for admission.

"The lecturers shall be chosen by an electing body consisting of the President of the University, the five senior members of the Faculty of the College of Liberal Arts, and the President of the Board of Trustees, subject to the approval of the Board of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The lecturers must be persons of high and wide repute, of broad and varied scholars.h.i.+p, who firmly adhere to the evangelical system of Christian faith. The selection of lecturers may be made from the world of Christian scholars.h.i.+p without regard to denominational divisions.

Each course of lectures is to be published in book form by an eminent publis.h.i.+ng house and sold at cost to the Faculty and students of the University."

GEORGE R. GROSE, _President of DePauw University_.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Inasmuch as future lecturers on the Mendenhall Foundation may not have had the privilege of personal acquaintance with the founder, it is doubtless good that this first volume may record the outlines of his life and character. Marmaduke H. Mendenhall was born at Guilford, North Carolina, May 13, 1836. He died at Union City, Indiana, October 9, 1905. He was the son of Himelius and Priscilla Mendenhall, who, when their son was about one year old, came northward and settled near Peru, Indiana. Doctor Mendenhall did not suggest in manner or bearing that he was Southern born.

Had one chosen to judge of his birthplace by the man himself, one would have said that he was a typical son of New England. His deeper self was typified by his personal appearance. He was tall, stately, dignified, serious, earnest.

He joined the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1856. Those days were still pioneer, and he entered gladly into the sacrificial ministry of that period. It is a singular coincidence that he was doubtless the first minister of his faith to begin work near Union City, where he closed his earthly labors. It was his privilege, also, to build the first Methodist Episcopal church in the city where he died. The history of his ministry shows that he served all cla.s.ses of charges--country, city, village, county seat. Several times the record is dotted with the word "Mission," which would indicate that he frequently followed the apostolic fas.h.i.+on of building strictly on his own foundations. He came to a place of leaders.h.i.+p in his own Conference. To the day of his death he was an influential factor in all its plans and programs. Though he had been technically "superannuated" for sixteen years prior to his death, his mind kept its full vigor, and his word kept its full weight. Twice he was elected a reserve delegate to the General Conference, while in 1880 he was chosen as one of the regular delegates.

From the beginning of his ministry Dr. Mendenhall showed the signs of a remarkable mind, and at the end of his ministry he was still manifesting a keen interest in current questions and in theological problems. His library to the last was freshened by the purchase of new books. When he turned his many volumes over to Gammon Theological Seminary that inst.i.tution did not receive hundreds of antiquated volumes, but rather a collection brought down to date and selected by a master judgment. The intellectual, though suffused at times by a proper and restrained emotion, was his noticeable characteristic. He was given to thorough a.n.a.lysis. He was markedly painstaking. Records that he made of the conduct of his public services indicate that the final details were all regarded, and that hymns and Scripture lessons were chosen with a view to their bearing on the instruction of the day.

Being a vigorous personality, he held his views with strength. He was keenly loyal to his convictions, whether these related to methods of work or to statements of doctrine. In his advocacy or in his antagonism he was always frank and open. His opponent could see him standing out in plain view, with no effort to protect himself by secrecy. Men could never doubt his sincerity, however much they might question the correctness of his positions. He knew no sinuous paths. He was as direct as sunlight, and he traveled in straight lines.

In all his spheres of work Dr. Mendenhall made deep and lasting impressions. Highly intellectual as he was, he was still an excellent administrator. His business qualifications were signal. Every matter committed to him was cared for with scrupulous nicety. He left no loose ends to any of his work. Although his salaries were never large, as salaries are counted to-day, he secured a comfortable property, and this in spite of the fact that throughout his lifetime he was a generous contributor to good causes.

He served as a trustee of De Pauw University longer than other member of his Conference had served, up to the time of his death. From 1878 to 1887 he served in this capacity, while in 1896 he was reelected and was an active worker on the board up to the end of his life. He aided in pus.h.i.+ng the inst.i.tution through its crisis. The files of this writer disclose a careful and helpful correspondence upon matters vital to the welfare of the University. In the sessions of the board he was always urbane and conciliatory. He crowned the work of his life by leaving to the University all of his estate. Upon the increase of the estate to a certain figure, the income was to be used in founding a lectures.h.i.+p on Revealed Religion, especially as related to the Holy Bible.

Although the writer was an intimate friend of Dr. Mendenhall, he cannot remember any statements made to him which would indicate the founder's views of inspiration or of the other questions that have made the biblical problem of the last two decades. But his library showed that he was fully aware of the modern discussions. Perhaps he felt that a lectures.h.i.+p, broadly founded and practically directed, would be of special service to the church in a time of transition. The writer entertains the conviction that, even though Dr. Mendenhall might not agree fully with all that is found in the following pages, he would still appreciate the effort to bring the Bible within its divine purpose as a Book of Life.

The home of the founder revealed him as a model of courtesy and kindliness. Friends who saw him by his own fireside noted the benignity that matched his dignity, the tenderness that equaled his seriousness.

Those who came into the nearer circle of his life regarded him most highly. To the wife who survives him he was in all ways a helper, gentle in demeanor and loyally careful in the administration of her interests. As the writer reviews the drift of these first lectures delivered under this foundation, he is persuaded that the founder's relation to Himself, to his Home, to his Work, to his Wealth, to his Pleasure and Sorrow, and particularly to the cause of Education, is not misrepresented herein. The Bible was his Book, and its ideals were achieved in his living. It is the sincere wish that these pages may accomplish somewhat the main purpose of the founder's heart in making the divine Book a brighter lamp for the guidance of youth.

THE HUMAN OUTLINE

It may be well to give in human form the outline which will be followed in these pages. The story is the story of millions of men on as many days.

A man awoke one morning to the consciousness of himself. Looking about he saw the familiar sights of his own home, and soon he heard the voices of his wife and children. Ere long the little people were on their way to school. The man proceeded to his work, while his wife took up her domestic duties. He returned in the evening with the proceeds of his day's labor added to his stock of goods. He partook of the evening meal and then indulged in the pleasure of "the children's hour." He later called upon a friend who had met with sorrow and in the trouble of his friend he found a fresh reminder of his own affliction. He retired in due season to his slumber and went forth the next morning to make the like round of the day.

This is a piece of constant biography. It could be duplicated by reference to many a personal journal and diary. If we a.n.a.lyze the description, we shall find that the man was driven to take a relation to Himself, to Home, to Education, to Work, to Wealth, to Pleasure and Sorrow.

The aim of this book is to state somewhat the bearing that the Bible has upon these great departments of our human living. The apologetic tests the Book under the terms of this human outline.

CHAPTER I

THE BIBLE AND LIFE

The Bible is a book of power. The man who would deny this statement would impugn his own intelligence. It is to-day the Book of the strongest nations. If the strongest nations selected it for their inspiration and guidance, that fact is significant. If, on the other hand, the Bible has trained the strongest nations, that fact is more significant. In either case power is lodged in the Holy Scriptures. The miracle is this: That a very ancient Book rules a very modern world.

Various explanations are given. Some men say that the Bible is powerful because it has been promoted by a powerful organization. But this explanation needs explaining. How did the Bible secure the aid of this organization? Why did not the organization take the Dialogues of Plato and become the evangel of Socrates' splendid wisdom? Why did it elect one particular volume? And what would have been the effect on its own life if it had chosen some other book? Would the writings of Marcus Aurelius or of Seneca, with their high moral grade and their marked religious insight, have served the holy purpose as effectively? When we attempt to subst.i.tute some other book in the Bible's place, our hesitancy quickly pa.s.ses on to positive refusal. The Christian Church, with any other volume as its textbook, is simply inconceivable.

Other men will say that the power of the Bible has come from its girding by a doctrine of authority. This explanation must likewise be explained.

Could a Book without inherent authority be long maintained among intelligent peoples on the basis of artificial authority? Why is the Bible the best seller and the greatest worker in those lands where it has been set free to yield its own message? What is the peculiar quality in the Book that has saved any theory of its authority from appearing absurd? The Bible showed its power long before men adopted any theory of its power.

Doubtless the claim of authority has increased the influence of the Book over certain types of minds. Still it may be confidently a.s.serted that the claim of authority has depended far more on the power of the Bible than the power of the Bible has depended on the claim of authority. The effect should not be allowed to pa.s.s itself off as the main cause.

Nor does the power of the Bible depend upon mere bulk. Shakespeare wrote enough to make several Bibles. So did Scott. So did d.i.c.kens. So did Parkman. If the Bible is a moral and spiritual Encyclopedia, its material has been strangely condensed. It is a brief Book, yet out of its small compa.s.s men gather texts for fifty years of preaching and at the close of their life's task feel that the pages are still exhaustless. The Bible has inspired literature far beyond its own bulk. It is a small library of books gathered from many authors, but it has filled great libraries with commentaries and sermons and discussions. Its brevities have provoked measureless pages of writing. The world is big, yet it is measurably ruled by a small Book.

It would seem likewise that a Book written so long ago would fail of the element of timeliness. That an old volume should keep its place in a new century is in itself an anomaly. The last of the Bible was penned hundreds of years since. Accepting the most radical views as to dates, its youngest book was produced quite more than a millennium and a half ago. Meanwhile the world has been making amazing progress. We boast of our achievements in transportation and communication. All ancient things seem to be outgrown, save only the Bible. The books that were written as contemporaries of parts of the great Book have either slipped into oblivion or are known to-day only by the intellectually elect. The cla.s.sics are studied by a small circle of scholars. The average man knows nothing of Virgil, or Cicero, or Homer, by any direct contact with the works of those authors. But the Bible, which is out of date by the calendar, is not out of date by its own meaning. It is singularly contemporaneous. Its different portions were called forth by pa.s.sing events and the Book itself is clearly touched by its own times. For all that, eternity appears to have lodged itself in its contemporaneousness.

The twentieth century, eager and thrilling as it is, accepts a Guide Book from the distant years. Roman Law and Greek Art are filtered to the new age through modern channels. The Bible itself comes to us more simple and more powerful than any modern interpretations of its messages. There is a sense in which it declines to apply to itself its own figure of speech about the new wine in the old bottles.

The Bible defies geographical distance as well as calendar distance. For the most part its record relates to what happened in a small and remote section of the earth. It reaches its climax in an obscure province which was smaller than many a modern county. The customs of which it tells are mostly gone. Sandals and tents and camels and parchments are curiosities in the new lands and new times. Much of the setting of biblical events is wholly unknown to our day, and so must be reproduced for our children in pictures and for our adults in descriptions. An Oriental Book is the chief literature of an Occidental world.

In spite of its small size, its great age, its cramped geography, its vivid Orientalism, the Bible keeps its mastery. What is the explanation?

It must be that the Bible appeals to something fundamental in life itself.

The final test of inspiration must, of course, be found in what the Bible does for life. A book that is not inspiring cannot be proved to be inspired. It cannot give what it does not have and it must surely have received what it gives. It would be a mistake, however, to confuse formal truthfulness with inspiring vitality. The description of a street scene, dealing with the pa.s.sing relations of pedestrians, wagons, trees, birds, houses; the lengths and widths of sidewalks and streets; the figures of population; the social status of the various groups--all this may be told with exact and mathematical truthfulness. It may be correct and still not be inspired or inspiring. On the other hand, the parable of the prodigal son is a story which in its precise detail may represent something that never occurred. But it has impressed the world as both inspired and inspiring. Its words haunt and pierce and coax and subdue men. This indicates that a story given for a spiritual purpose shows more essential truthfulness than does a description given for formal exactness. The reason is that the parable appeals to something fundamental in life itself. The son and the father are ever with us. G.o.d and his children are the everlasting facts. The story is more true than is the description.

This contrast represents the biblical trend. The Book penetrates through the husk to the kernel, through superficial facts to deepest truths, through pa.s.sing events to eternal meanings. It is the Book of Life.