redeem a sinner who inherited his soul, body, and sin altogether from his first parents, although he had no control over their conduct, certainly lays him under weighty obligations to the Redeemer; but for the beloved Son of God to leave, for the time, his seat on the right hand of the Father in glory, and voluntarily follow a rebel angel, who had been justly punished for his own sins by himself committed in the effulgent light of heaven, down to the infernal regions and bring him up to earth, and here meet him and offer up his own life as a ransom to the Father for the sins of a devil, certainly brings the spirit so redeemed under obligations, if not more heavy, at least such as are more easily comprehended.

Examine the question, then, my Christian friends, with all the care its magnitude demands; and if you find that you have even received a greater favor from your Lord and Master than you had before suspected, let your energies be in proportion the more aroused, and new zeal awakened within you for the better discharge of all the sacred duties so devolved upon you.

One who received an opinion with the caution, and only after the prolonged, laborious, and careful investigation which the writer gave this (as stated in the Preface), will not expect another of independent thought to accept his theory as true, simply on reading the brief and imperfect statement of it given above. This he does not desire. But I do wish all, who can do so, to read what is herein said about it, and in doing so, turn patiently to the Scriptures referred to, and read not only the texts quoted, but look into the context from which each is taken, and then read the whole of that Book of Books, and see all that is therein said directly, or which bears remotely upon the subject, and thus form an opinion, at least worth having, if not worth giving to others. The truth is what we all should most desire to know, and anxiously seek after.

I have read and reasoned in search of the truth in question; and now I wish to induce, if possible, others to do the same. If I am in error, as I may be (for I know myself to be a fallible creature), my earnest desire is to be put right.

And if this hypothesis be correct, I want all to know it, that they may be the more careful to accept of pardon while it may be found.

God knows I feel no interest in the propagation of such error as this, if error it be. My life has not been that of the devoted minister of Jesus Christ, of whom it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" And again : "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel." I have made my living neither off the piety, simplicity, or misfortunes of my fellow-men, but of their wickedness.

For the benefit of such as have never made the sacred writings a study, whether from want of inclination, or of sufficient time from other vocations, by them esteemed of more value, it may be well enough in this place to state some of the chief causes of the vast differences of opinion entertained, even by the most learned and pious men, of the doctrines taught in the Bible. There is good reason to fear that many persons, not worse by nature than others, and who were endowed by the Creator with strong minds, and some of which have also been well cultivated, as to the wisdom of this world, have been deceived by the devil, chiefly by false arguments drawn from the very fact that the most wise and best men could not agree as to what the Scriptures teach, and, being so deceived, have been put off their guard and suffered their frail bark to be driven upon the reef of infidelity, and thus made shipwreck of their immortal souls.

Should this little book, by chance, fall under the eye of one who is now traveling that same highway, suffer me, my dear friend, to whisper a word of caution into your ear, and beseech you to pause and seriously reflect before you further go.

I am not one of those who can ask a man of sense and reason, to blindly accept as true that which is contrary to reason, because it is said to be taught in the Bible. On the contrary, as a firm believer in that blessed book, and at least a professed follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I am willing-aye, anxious-to submit that book to the touch

stone of reason. And to accept the proposition that (God being all-wise and the true source of sound reason), if the Bible teaches that which is unreasonable, then it is not His Book.

The Scriptures are often mysterious, but that anything taught therein is unreasonable, I deny. Thinking, doubting persons have my warmest sympathies. Having traveled that same way to an alarming point, I can feel for my friends who are still exposed to the fatal error of skepticism. I respect—yes, love-a man who dares to think for himself and act upon his judgment. God made us to reflect and act according to reason. But, is it reasonable that we should judge of what the Bible teaches from what others say of it? Would it not better accord with the promptings of that reason which we so much revere, to make for ourselves a most anxious, honest, and critical examination of what it does teach, and let the results of such search govern us in the formation of our opinions? Take up your Bible, and read, review, and compare one passage with another, just as the successful law student studies Blackstone and Chitty. And, my word for it, when you have done so, you will be satisfied, "beyond a reasonable doubt," not only that it is true, but that it has been the most abused, unnecessarily mystified, and least understood of any book that has been read at all, which has ever been written or printed in any age or language.

But to return to a notice of discrepancies between theologians. In the first place, many of the revelations which have been made at different times, from God to man, have been communicated in a mystic form, and for wise purposes, which will be noticed hereinafter. Our Savior taught chiefly by parables. Divine truth He represents as a "pearl of great price," a treasure to be diligently sought for, and when found, not to be cast before swine.

Many teachers of divinity, as we may fairly infer, have not searched for that precious jewel with the necessary diligence, but have contented themselves with the more easy process of adopting the opinions of others, as they found them, ready cut and dried, in the text books of the various Christian denominations to which each belonged.

Another, and to us of the present age of the world, a much greater difficulty, is to be found in the fact, that we have not the Word of God, as it was originally delivered by the mouth of His prophets, or as it was first recorded by inspired penmen; nor have we the sacred words of Jesus Christ, as they fell from His heavenly lips, or as they were written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Ours is, of necessity, but a translation of the original Scriptures. All men are imperfect; and, therefore, their best works must be, like themselves, imperfect.

I do not wish to depreciate the value of the Sacred Writings as we have them; they are to us above all estimation of value. Nor do I propose to find fault with those great and good men who have blessed the world with their translations. Furthermore, I have no desire to see any effort made toward displacing the translation made under the direction of King James, in favor of any which have, or can be made. It is true, we have now more men well skilled in the oriental customs and languages than lived in his time; we might, therefore, reasonably expect that a general translation could now be made, which would approximate more nearly a literal rendering of the original than that we now have. Admit all that to be true, yet more would, in all probability, be lost to the cause of Christ by means of the bickerings and ill-tempered discussions, which would inevitably arise between the partisans of the different versions, than would be gained from all the improvements of that sort, which would probably be made.

The most ardent friend to truth may content himself with the way things are now going on in that direction. The labors of that committee have often been, and are constantly being reviewed by men competent to the task; and such errors as are discovered, and considered of sufficient value to require it, are pointed out in marginal notes, commentaries, etc. So that those who feel sufficiently anxious about it, can now get all the light which has been shed upon the subject.

To one who has been a close Bible reader himself, and for the sole purpose of learning his duty there; and who has had

neither taste nor occasion to participate in such unprofitable debates, looking upon them as of minor importance at most, and who has stood as a mere "looker-on in Venice," it is easy to see that one prime cause of the differing views of those who conduct them, in various instances, is to be found in imperfections of translation.

A few remarks may suffice to show, however, to any wellbalanced mind, that it is utterly impossible for human skill to produce a correct version of the Bible in this age. Suppose an infidel, of sufficient capacity and learning, should undertake the task. He is but a man, subject to the prejudices incident to our fallen nature, and liable to err, as all others. He would go to work under the firm belief that there is neither God nor Devil, Heaven nor Hell; and that the whole Bible is nothing better than the skillful work of bad men, who only sought, by teaching their too simple and confiding fellows such unreasonable and foolish notions, to get the more perfect control of them; and by that means to advance their own selfish and ambitious aspirations. Could a poor, erring man, however honest of purpose he might be, do justice to that or any other writing, of which he entertained so poor an opinion?

Take, then, a Christian man, or a commission of such, and charge him or them with that sacred duty. None but honest men could be trusted in that divine work. If honest and true men, they will act honestly. Will they not? Acting honestly, of course they will give us the best rendering, in our language, they can possibly derive from the original; always being strictly careful to retain the true sense and actual meaning of the original as far as possible. Will they not? Of course, they will. Then, what have we gained by another translation? King James' committee did precisely the same thing. They, no doubt, translated the Bible honestly, giving the real meaning just as they had been taught to believe, and did verily believe, was the best interpretation of every passage therein contained. But, of course, they read and rendered in the light of their understanding. As honest and good men, they could not have done otherwise. What then was the result? A version of the Bible just as