WRESTLING THE SCRIPTURES.
By A. Smith
“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Cor. 2:2. After the third angel’s message, bearing upon its front the Sabbath reform, has been given in a new place, and the minister has left for a new field of labor, the opposing element often follows with a discourse from the above text, which is made to convey the impression that all doctrinal or prophetic Scripture not bearing directly upon the points in question is excluded, as unworthy of attention. But we ask, Did Paul, by this short paragraph, certify his intention to confine his preaching to the narrow limits which these opposers of the truth have circumscribed for him? We think not, if his declarations in Rom. 16:25, 26, and elsewhere, are of any force. “Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” In Rom. 15:4, Paul declares the Scriptures to have been written for our learning; and in verse 14 of the same chapter he commends his brethren for the extent of their knowledge of these things. Again, the great apostle commends Timothy for his thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, and commands him, by the most solemn injunction, to “preach the word.” At another time we find him, Sabbath after Sabbath, reasoning with both Jews and Gentiles from the Holy Scriptures. On the subjects of the Second Advent and the Judgment, Paul is very explicit in many of his epistles. When he visited Athens, a sister city of Corinth, he reasoned of righteousness and a Judgment to come, in terms that moved the city. Is it possible that the great apostle to the Gentiles would leave a Christian church which he had been instrumental in raising up, in profound ignorance of some of the most important and solemn doctrines of the Bible? Let modern divines who oppose the truth affirm this if they will; but we invite every candid reader to search the Scriptures for himself, and especially to study Paul’s epistles, and we believe he will not fail to discover the obvious meaning of the text. The subjects of Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection are as broad as the field covered by Bible truth; and the frown of Heaven will doubtless rest upon those who, from selfish motives, limit their application.