The way, the nature and means of revelation

Front matter

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Preface

THE study of the Bible in the light of modern research has yielded results of great value: among other things it has led to a more discriminating criticism of the text of Scripture, and to a clearer understanding of its literary history. The modern critic has learned. to approach his object with directness, in the interest of truth, and a closer scrutiny of historic remains is gradually freeing the mind from some beliefs which had become almost a superstition.

Nevertheless there are certain tendencies in the prevalent methods of investigation, which, when applied to biblical criticism and scriptural exegesis, need a corrective. Recent naturalistic methods, having in some degree assumed the character of a reaction against the extreme supernaturalism of older estimates of the Bible, tend to subordinate Revelation to the historic elements of Scripture. This is manifestly a reversal of the old order of thought, and it cannot be doubted that the reaction itself is running to an extreme, and needs a counteracting check by another mode of approach.

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Whatever be the nature of the literary and historic estimates originating in modern criticism, the Scriptures claim for themselves, in part, a divine inspiration: that which distinguishes them in general from other literature is the consistent and sustained assertion that they contain a supernatural Reyelation. In affirming this claim the Scriptures designate the peculiar means which constitute a channel of Revelation; and the Bible is, in part, a deposit of that which has been thus divinely disclosed to man: it is on this ground that the Bible is termed the “ Word of God.”

Thus it is claimed that there lies at the root of the Christian belief a deposit of truth supernaturally revealed, as the nucleus around which have crystallized the materials of a general faith projected to the farthest reach of ‘‘promise.” These foundations of belief are referred to in Scripture as “ things seen and heard” in the form of revelations from God. By whatever agencies man is enlightened in the course of nature, the Scriptures plainly indicate that Revelation is a supernatural disclosure, apart from the means whereby man commonly acquires knowledge.

It is to a digest of the general teachings conveyed through this channel of Revelation, and to a critical inspection of the instrumentalities involved,

PREFACE. Vii that the following work is directed; with a view to discriminate between the knowledge so gained and that acquired through the natural activities of man. Many things contribute to the belief that a new era of enlightenment concerning Revelation is dawning in the human consciousness. Where the ground is prepared, the tutelage of external authority is fast yielding to an inward spiritual apprehension of the truths of Revelation. Already the judgment of man is discriminating between Scripture and Revelation, or between the Bible and the Word of God. Reason and faith are becoming more closely coérdinated; nature and the supernatural more accurately discriminated; truth more generally reverenced for its own sake as the means whereby belief becomes knowledge. When faith is merged in sight, men no longer argue questions of belief: they state positively, yet simply, the ground of their convictions; affirming the truth, not as an abstract speculation, but as a practical experience. This is eminently characteristic of the scriptural method. The truths discussed in this work are not new; they are the old truths of Revelation interpreted in | the light of Scripture as the sole competent witness / of their meaning or intention. The nature of the interpretation herein pursued necessitates this exclusive adherence to the original sources of light

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comprised in the Bible; and if the reader will suspend judgment until the various parts of this work are discerned as correlated under one general and uniform principle of interpretation, it is thought that the issue will not be disappointing.

To the historical parts of the Bible little attention has been paid, as the purpose of the work is confined exclusively to the teachings of Revelation. The Scriptures are freely quoted in attestation of the truths diseussed, and for this reason the scriptural form has been followed by the omission of capitals to personal pronouns referring to the Deity, and elsewhere, for the sake of typographical uniformity. In some instances the words of Scripture are quoted apart from their special context, but only when a universal principle was involved. In general it is presumed that the reader is familiar with the Bible and the use of a concordance; this obviates the necessity of loading down the text with special references. |

The aim has been to exhibit the general teaching of Revelation as pointing THe WAy of salvation ; to sketch the plan of redemption as marking the unfolding of a moral and spiritual consciousness in man; and to explain the nature of the means which constitute a channel of prophecy. A general convergence of many forms of knowledge bearing

PREFACE. 1x on the Scriptures is a marked characteristic of the present time. Human prejudices are slowly but surely yielding to a spirit of tolerance and intelligent insight as the true ground of spiritual freedom. The great doctrines of faith are again being clothed with a living investiture; religion is once more rising from the earth with a revived energy of belief; an inspiration calm and rational, yet spiritual, is manifesting itself in the consciousness of Christendom. The heavens, which had receded beyond the stars, are again drawing near with a revived belief in God’s immanence in the world. The cry is renewed, the glad tidings of great joy, —

“The kingdom of heaven is come nigh unto you,”

“ The kingdom of God is at hand.”

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Contents

; Page I. THe BEGINNING AND THE ENDING . l The Form or Vehicle of Revelation. arte Natars and Scope of Sacred Allegory. —The Allegory of Creation.— The Creation of the Soul and the Forming of Man.— The Edenic State. — The Symbols of the Fall.—Sin.— The Natural and the Spiritual Adam.— The Tri-personality of God and Man. — Jesus the Type of Man’s True Estate. —The Last Day.

IJ. Toe Seers AND PROPHETS . . weGE The Means and Instrumentalities of Percisuon® a Angels and Ministering Spirits. — Verbal Revelations. — An Order of Progress in the Means. — The Spirit and the Word. — Varied Nature of the Means.

— Revelation, Inspiration, Ilumination. — Times and Seasons. — True and False Prophets.