These questions of 'criticism,' as they are now called, are far
less important than men fancy just now. A generation or two hence,
it is to be hoped, men will see how very unimportant they are, and
will find that they have detracted very little from the authority of
Scripture as a whole; and that they have not detracted in the least
from the Gospel and good news which Scripture proclaims to men--the
news of a perfect God, who will have men to become perfect even as
He, their Father in heaven, is perfect; who sent His only begotten
Son into the world, that the world through Him might be saved.
In this case, I verily believe, it matters little to us whether St.
Paul, when he wrote these words, wrote them under the belief that
Christ's second coming was at hand. We must apply to his words the
great rule, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation--that is, does not apply exclusively to any one fact
or event: but fulfils itself again and again, in a hundred
unexpected ways, because he who wrote it was moved by the Holy
Spirit, who revealed to him the eternal and ever-working laws of the
Kingdom of God. Therefore, I say, the words are true for us at this
moment. To us, though we have, as far as I can see, not the least
reasonable cause for supposing the end of the world to be more
imminent than it was a thousand years ago--to us, nevertheless, and
to every generation of men, the night is always far spent, and the
day is always at hand.
Pages:
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60