Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/24

 view, Bible  History  may  be  made  to  render  most  valuable  service  in religious  instruction. The illustrative  light  it  throws  on  doctrinal  truths makes them  more  easily  intelligible. They become  invested  with  a concrete  form,  are  clothed  with  flesh  and  blood,  breathe  the  breath  of life,  and  move  like  living  truths  before  our  eyes. In the  Catechism, they appear  as  cold  abstracts  and  mere  outlines. Thus Bible  History becomes an  object-lesson  in  faith,  a veritable  pictorial  Catechism. How powerfully, for  instance,  is  the  truth  of  an  all-ruling  Providence  illustrated by  the  histories  of  Joseph  and  Abraham! What, again,  is  better calculated to  teach  the  power  of  prayer  than  the  stories  of  Moses praying while  the  Israelites  fought,  and  of  the  Church  praying  for  the imprisoned Peter? On the  other  hand,  the  fate  of  Judas  and  the  rejection of Juda  show  forth,  in  all  their  hideous  deformity,  the  terrible  con* sequences of  resistance  to  grace; while  the  history  of  the  fall  of  Eve and of  Peter  brings  out  the  necessity  of  avoiding  dangerous  occasions. In this  way,  Bible  History  at  once  proves  and  illustrates  doctrinal  truth. And it  likewise  develops  and  expands  such  truth. The Catechism  tells us, indeed,  how  and  why  Christ  suffered,  but  Bible  History  gives  a full and detailed  account  of  His  sufferings,  and  so  enables  us  better  to realize  the  infinite  love  of  God  and  the  enormity  of  sin. The texts  of Scripture  that  in  the  Catechism  stand  isolated  and  shorn  of  their  context, are now  seen  in  the  light  of  their  surroundings,  and  speak  to  us  with  a new  force  and  meaning. Moreover, Bible  History  serves  to  complete the Catechism. The Catechism,  for  example,  is  silent  about  miracles, about God’s  mercy  and  forbearance,  His  patience  and  long-suffering. Of humility, and  indeed  of  many  other  virtues,  it  is  also  silent,  except  that it arranges  them  over  against  the  opposing  vices. But would  we  learn their nature  and  properties,  and  how  pleasing  they  are  to  God,  it  is  to Bible  History  that  we  must  turn. The Catechism  is  monosyllabic  in  stating the duties  that  children  owe  to  their  parents,  masters  to  their  servants, and vice  versa; whereas  the  history  of  the  centurion’s  servant,  of  Heli’s sons, and  of  Tobias  surrounds  these  duties  with  a halo  of  interpreting light. Again, Bible  History  exhibits  religious  truth  in  its  bearing  and  action on the  most  varied  states  and  conditions. Virtue and  vice  stand  before us, with  life-blood  coursing  through  their  veins,  in  attractive  beauty  or repellent  ugliness. The Good  Samaritan  invites  to  mercy;  Job,  in  his resignation to  God’s  will,  is  a beacon-light  to  the  sorrowing; the  Apostles going forth  from  the  scourges,  and  rejoicing  that  they  were  accounted worthy to  suffer  for  Christ,  invest  with  a startling  reality  the  beatitude: Blessed are  they  that  suffer  persecution  for  justice’  sake.

From all  this  it  is  clear  that  Bible  History  is  not  to  be  read,  as too  often  it  is,  merely  as  a story-book; that  it  is  to  be  studied,  not  on