PREFACE. THE object of this volume is to commend the book of God to the favourable attention of all those, both parents and teachers, who are charged with the education of youth, and especially to the attention of the young themselves, as a book of permanent historic and biographic interest; and as such, furnishing the richest store-house of example, and the surest guide in the formation of character. It cannot be, that a book which deals so much in illustrations of life and character, as the Bible, should be devoid of interest to the young, or fail to furnish them with important aid in the development of their own characters, and the regulation of their own lives. But to do this, these characters must be known, studied, and appreciated. It is manifest, that they are not known, studied, or appreciated, as they ought to be, even by our best educated youth. A large portion of the his-` torical and biographical Scriptures is, in fact, seldom read, and of course little known. And yet God certainly had a purpose in making history and biography the broad basis of all Scripture. Is it not manifest, that, by putting so large a portion of his word into this narrative form, he thereby sought to attract and interest the youthful mind? If so, it is well to profit by the indication. It is wise to follow, in our own instructions, the divine pattern thus set us. Religion never speaks more gracefully, than when she speaks by example. It is chiefly through the living voice of example, that she speaks to the young in all the Scriptures. To inculcate Bible truths, through Bible characters, whether from the pulpit, the press, or the teacher's chair, is to adopt the Bible's own method of instruction. And, certainly, it is one which experience proves to be the most effective, as it is the most pleasing. Believing that there is an attractive power, as well as rich stores of instruction, in all the sacred biographies, even when presented singly, the writer of these pages has thought that he could not do a better service for the young Bible reader, and indeed for parents, teachers, and all others, who have at heart the education of our youth, than by classifying, arranging in groups, and so presenting at one view, as large a number of these Scripture portraits, as could thus be brought together without making too cumbrous a volume. By selecting, and grouping together such prominent characters as would be most likely to interest the young, and by clothing them somewhat in our modern style of thought and phraseology, he has hoped that the narrative portions of the Bible might be presented, if not in a new, at any rate, in an attractive and useful light. But while freely comparing ancient with modern characters, and often discussing the former in the most familiar current language of our times-deeming that the only way to make antiquity fully intelligible to the young is to modernize it--the writer has studiously avoided everything, that might offend the taste of the scholar on the one hand, or the piety of the devout Christian on the other. He has not sought to make these ancient characters attractive at the expense of the truth. He has not aimed to embellish them by any attempt of pen-painting. With this divine method ever before him—a method which leaves the deeds of the life to tell the story of the character-he has not sought to eulogize, but simply to set forth, Scripture characters, as they are in the book itself; giving them only that development which their recorded deeds would justify, or that prominence which their virtues demand. Not one jot or tittle of Scriptural truth has been anywhere knowingly sacrificed for the sake of making any scene the more impressive, or any character the more attractive; but the single aim from first to last has been, to let the Bible speak, and utter its voice of wisdom, through its own real personages. Of course only a part of this great cloud of witnesses could here be brought into view; but that part has been selected, which seemed to speak with a voice of spiritual interest to the young. The writer can only hope, that those who may recognize the voice of truth in these pages, may wish to hear that voice again, and be induced to follow it to those living oracles where God himself speaks. It may be proper to say, that in addition to the aid derived from books, the author has been indebted, for many valuable thoughts and súggestions, to his brethren of the ministry, whose oral and sometimes unwritten discourses he has been permitted to hear during the last fifteen or twenty years. If, in these pages, any of them should find their own ideas reproduced without the credit which is due, it is only because he was unwilling, by special references, to make them responsible for what they had not themselves published, and what he has reproduced here only from memory. CONTENTS. PAGE STATEMENT of the subject-Indestructible character of the Bible-its general influ- ence on man-Special lines of influence-The chief elements of its influence- Its sublime Doctrinal System-Its pure Preceptive System-The Bible as a fountain of Sentiment and Sympathy-Its fund of Historical and Biographical fact-The Bible compared with works of genius-Concluding remarks........... 11 How the Bible addresses children-First Characteristic-Second Characteristic- Third Characteristic-Fourth Characteristic-Fifth Characteristic-The chil- dren of the Bible-The wicked children of Bethel-The good children of Jerusalem-Good and bad children in the same family-Childhood of Joseph and Moses-Little Samuel and the sons of Eli-The dying Infant-Two chil- dren restored to life-Other examples from the Old Testament-Children of the New Testament-The childhood of Jesus..................................................... The heroic in human affairs-Heroic character of the Bible history-Why the Bible history is so heroic-No hero-worship in the Bible-The heroic character of Abraham-The heroic character of Moses-Joshua as a soldier-Gideon and the warrior judges-Samson the hero of physical strength-David and his mighty men-The heroes of the Captivity-The heroic character of Paul- The Pharaohs of Egypt-Joseph and Moses the earliest statesmen-Saul, David and Solomon-The statesmanship of Ahithophel-The Kings of Judah and Israel-Haman and Mordecai-Nehemiah, Ezra, and Daniel-Cyrus and the great kings-Kings and rulers in the New Testament-Testimony of modern Prophetical characters of the Old Testament-The prophecy of Jacob-Samuel the prophet-Elijah and Elisha-Isaiah and the greater prophetical writers- Jonah and the minor prophets-The Apostles of Christ-Personal characteris- tics of the Twelve-The great Apostles of the Gentiles-The relation of the apostles to the church-The work accomplished by the apostles-Conclusion.. 292 INCIDENTAL CHARACTERS, OR THE LESSER LIGHTS OF BIBLE BIOGRAPHY. Lamech the Antediluvian-Nimrod the mighty hunter-Melchisedec the King Priest-Lot, or the selfish choice-Esau, or the foolish choice-Hobab, or the better choice-Nadab and Abihu, or the warning-Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the Conspirators-Balaam the false prophet-Elihu, or the young man of wig- dom-Naomi, or the desolate widow-Asaph the psalmist-The two nameless prophets-The three rival generals-Jehu, or the reign of terror-Huldah the prophetess-Belshazzar, or the hand-writing on the wall-Zacharias and Elis- abeth-Ananias and Sapphira-Bartimeus and Zaccheus-Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea-The two Thieves in the crucifixion--Cornelius and LIFE PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. CHAPTER I. GENERAL INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE ON HUMAN CHARACTER. I. STATEMENT OF THE SUBJECT. AT whatever point we open the Sacred Scriptures, we are at once struck with a spirit, tone, and character, in all their utterances, separating them entirely from all other writings. Almost all persons, even the most superficial, can tell when they hear a quotation from Scripture, by its very sound. It comes with a tone of authority, a simplicity of style, a plainness of speech, an earnestness, sanctity, and reverence for God, which may indeed be imitated, but, otherwise, can never be mistaken for anything else in the world. This total isolation of the Bible, and unlikeness to all other books, while it arises from its very nature as a revelation from God, and is doubtless salutary in its general effect upon our minds, may also have the effect of driving some from its sacred pages altogether, under the impression, that its truths are too mysterious, and its characters too awful and unapproachable, for the apprehension or imitation of ordinary minds. But this would be a great mistake ; |