The Book above all; or, The Holy Bible the only sensible, infallible and divine authority on earth

Front matter

THE

BOOK ABOVE ALL;

OR,

Preface

" The times seem to call, with unusual emphasis and interest, for something of this kind. Sceptical developments, even among ecclesiastical and collegiate authorities, make it painfully evident that the true character of the Bible is misunderstood by many of its professional teachers. "With these mischievous perverters of great providential advantages, it is too plain to be longer doubted that 'science, falsely so called/ has absorbed the attention and confidence due only to the Records of Divine Inspiration.' '

Several years since, the author of these sermons having in view their immediate publication, wrote the above sentence, but was prevented from accomplishing his design by reason of sickness, which terminated in death. It therefore becomes a duty for others to perform — not only of loving affection to the departed, but also of supplying one of the great wants of the living — of meeting one of the great necessities of the times. If this want was felt years ago, because of the existing antagonism to the Word of God ; surely, much more must it be felt now, in view of the recent developments in our own country, especially regarding the bitter hostility of the Roman Catholic Church against its use in our own schools.

Well would it be for us to know, that this first demand

IV PREFACE.

of the Church of Rome upon Protestant United States, is but the beginning of a series of demands of similar import, which refer not only to the Public Schools, but to all other Public Institutions, including the various State Legislatures, the Army and Navy, the United States Senate and the House of Representatives — requiring the suppression of the Bible and the dismissal of the Chaplains, and thus the total abolition of all public religious observances, unless performed under the direction of the Pope at Rome. And this same Roman Catholic Church, which w T ould exclude the Bible from the public institutions of a Protestant Country, would just as cheerfully sweep it away from the entire land, and substitute the darkness and despotism that have marked her entire history, and which are essential elements in her government.

It will be observed that the last sermon in this series, the tenth, is composed of three parts. It was the intention of the author to condense these into the limits of one sermon, but this was too much for his feeble health, and lest an attempt by other hands to accomplish the same object, should fail in anywise, and as each one contains valuable information that could not easily be dispensed with, it has been decided to present the three parts separately. Lastly, all the additional matter has been in constant demand for years, and cannot be now obtained excepting in the present volume.

T. H. S.

Philadelphia, 1870.