A FEW THOUGHTS FOR THE SKEPTIC.
By Adolphus Smith
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. ii, 14. O thou unbeliever, this word is to you, to you who do not believe the testimony of Paul, that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” 2 Tim. iii, 16; nor of Peter, that “the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. i, 21. “I do not believe,” say you, “that there is a God.” But, my friend, does your unbelief strike God out of existence? Is there any less a God because of your unbelief? Do you behold no evidence without or within you that an Almighty God exists, and rules over all? “All things came by chance.” How wonderful! Why does it not happen, then, that, on awakening some morning, you find, it may be, the miserable hovel in which you close your eyes, were exchanged for a palace, and your poverty for untold millions? or why do you not awaken, and find yourself a calf not half as valuable as that which the Hebrews worshipped in the wilderness of Sinai? This a world of chance? Read the story of Hafed who happened to see a man that chanced to have one good eye in the top of his head, and you may be able to see as he did, that all things in this world are governed by fixed, unalterable laws, as beneficent as they are wise. You profess to believe that there is no God; but, if there is a God, notwithstanding your unbelief, is your attitude toward that God conciliatory? If not conciliatory, are you prepared to meet the issue? “Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him.” “But admitted,” say you, “that there is a God, I do not believe that the Bible is a revelation from God, or that it was given, as is claimed, by inspiration of his Spirit. It was written and printed by man, and the different books of which it is composed, were voted into the canon of scripture at certain councils, some of them receiving a small majority of votes. If they were of God, would he allow them to be thus disposed of, at the pleasure of man?” In regard to your objection to the Bible, I may say that God has created us social beings, making it our duty each to contribute somewhat to the well being of others; and that God, had he seen fit, could have so revealed his will that to believe were compulsory; but he has created us, not machines, but free, moral agents. We can, therefore, choose, or refuse; we can exercise faith (without which it is impossible to please God), or unbelief; either of which will receive its just recompense of reward. In revealing his will to man, God has employed holy men as instruments, endowing them with the spirit of wisdom. And whether in dictating, or writing, the Scriptures, as corporate bodies, or as individuals, holy men spake and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But, granted that the books of Scripture were received by vote, and that some of them received a very small majority, nay, only one majority, are they, therefore, any less authentic? Suppose a civil magistrate were elected by only one majority, is he, therefore, any less a magistrate? Has he any less authority to dispense justice? Abraham, when old and his wife past age, became a father (by promise) of many nations. Was he any the less the father of many nations, because he came near not being a father at all? Even so the Scriptures are no less authentic because they may have narrowly escaped extinction by the “Father of lies”? Here let me express a solemn thought suggested by the above. To be almost saved, is to be lost forever; and almost to reach Heaven, is to be thrust down to hell. “I believe,” say you, “that a part of the Bible teaches excellent morality, which, if obeyed, would make men virtuous; but that there are certain other parts that are unfit for perusal, and tend to immorality.” To your first proposition, I agree; but to the last, I would offer a few serious objections: 1. That certain scriptures are unfit for perusal, I deny, because that, first, a person who is so morally corrupt as to receive unchaste impressions from every seeming deviation from what he, in his moments of self-righteousness, expresses as his belief as to what constitutes true chastity, can never be injured by such scriptures, but, on the contrary, he may be benefited; for, being convicted of sin, the word of God, as the pointed steel, cuts to his heart; but, to hide his own guilt, he cries, “Shame! shame!” and second, one whose mind is pure, and who is honestly seeking after the truth, can behold in such portions of Scripture a faithful record of past unchastity and sin, from which they, as a faithful guide-board, warn him to turn away his unwary feet. 2. That such portions of Scripture tend to immorality is not legitimately true; for, though, on a cursory glance, certain isolated passages have the appearance of unchastity, and certain recorded transactions are seemingly inexplicable, yet, if with the text we also read the context, and could we become acquainted with the manners and customs of the people to whom such scriptures were addressed, our unbelief would be dispelled as the dew before the sun. That there are passages of Scripture unfit to be read publicly on all occasions, I admit; but that every passage has had, or will have, its proper place in the great testament of the Almighty Father to the children of men, I earnestly contend. To illustrate, a wife receives a letter from her absent husband. It contains a message to the children, and one to the neighbors. She calls them all together, and reads the last aloud and in the presence of her children. She dismisses the neighbors, and then reads the children’s message to them alone. The letter contains also a message to herself. This she reads in silence; for it contains words of endearment, of counsel, of advice, unfit for vulgar ears; yet no one would question the virtue of the husband for writing, nor that of the wife for reading, the communication. Even so, give to the Scriptures a time and place for each message, each passage; and I think the whole will appear as one harmonious chain of truth, whose beginning is co-eval with God’s, and whose end reaches through to the glory that is to be revealed. The Scriptures contain numerous records of transactions that were wrong, and because the Infidel does not immediately discover that they protest against such transactions, he cries out against the purity of the word. The insanity of such an objector might be fitly illustrated thus: A. calls upon B. who relates that C. had, the night previous, in cold blood, murdered his whole family. A. immediately goes out and loudly proclaims that B. is a villain, a knave, that he approves of homicide, parricide, and infanticide. “How do you know?” says D. “Why,” says A., “I heard him say that C. murdered his family, and, as I did not hear him pronounce against the atrocity of the deed, I conclude that he sanctions it.” When, in the Bible, an idea is advanced, or an incident noted, which is seemingly inexplicable, it should be followed in its chain of reasoning to its legitimate conclusion, before judgment is pronounced upon its merit or demerit. You say that “David was a man after God’s own heart;” that “he was a polygamist, and therefore the Bible sanctions polygamy.” The Bible sanctions no such thing. In the beginning God created them male and female; therefore “shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife [not wives], and they twain shall be one flesh.” It is true that David and Solomon both had a plurality of wives; but the former suffered greatly because of it, and the latter, through the influence of his wives, incurred the wrath of God, which, however, was suspended in its execution because of his sincere repentance. David was a man who sorrowed greatly whenever he discovered that he had sinned against God. Do you know, my friend, that David bitterly repented of his polygamy, and that God did not declare him a man after his own heart, while in the practice of polygamy? Search the Scriptures. Polygamy in those days was the general rule; now, in Bible lands, it is the exception. God, in his wisdom, has never seen fit to eradicate general and public evils by one great stroke of his almighty power; but, by the sword of his Spirit, which is the word of God, he has sought to subdue the heart of man; correct moral conduct following, as a natural consequence. “The Bible,” you say, “sanctions divorce.” It permits it under certain circumstances, because of the depravity of the human heart, and to prevent greater evils. “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so.” “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” “Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whosoever marrieth her that is put away, doth commit adultery.” A man has broken his leg; gangrene has set in; he sends for a surgeon, whose knife severs the offending member from his body, that his life may be saved. But had his leg been sound and healthy, would he have had it amputated? Not by any means. So the Bible suffers divorce in certain cases, to prevent greater evils. The nearer we approach to holiness of heart and life, the less need there will be of divorce. Gold, fancy, or passion, are, in far too many cases, the chief incentives to matrimony. Taking a husband or wife is popularly regarded as the same as taking a ticket in a lottery. This is not true; for “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” “Whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord,” and, vice versa, she that getteth a husband of the Lord, doeth well. God can look down through the long vista of our mortal years, and he knows just what sort of a companion we need, best to secure our sacred, secular, and social interests. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” We should then ask God to guide us in selecting the consort of our earthly joys and sorrows. Thus guided, we should never have reason to repent our choice, and no occasion of divorce be ever found. But to return: Are you sure, my friend, that the Bible is not a revelation from God? Nay, do you know it is not? Oh! if it should at last prove to be the word of God, how sad your fate! “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh, shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Mal. iv, 1. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. xx, 15. Reader, if, on the one hand, the Bible be not true, yet to follow its teachings, as you yourself admit, would make you a better man or woman; but, on the other, if it is true, your unbelief consigns you to perdition. Then, can you any longer afford to disbelieve? Resolve, in the strength of Jesus, no longer to be led captive of Satan, who “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Cor. iv, 4. Begin in earnest to serve God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the great head of the church, give you grace to forsake your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by turning to the Lord. ADOLPHUS SMITH.
Ottawa Co., Mich.