from error, and only needs to assert
that divine privilege of knowing and acknowledging truth in order to to
find it.

"Humanity is so under the yoke of traditional opinions that it has not
dared think for itself, but the time has come when 'ye shall of
yourselves know what is truth,' when each must prove his individual
liberty by claiming it. Is not the wisdom to know and understand God's
revelations given to every one who asks, or rather appreciates what he
already has?

"There is no reason for depending upon any but the wisdom in ourselves,
for searching the meanings of any Scripture. Whatever is true, we shall
understand and hold as infallible. That we have a rich storehouse of
precious gems, even the most adverse thinkers admit, and above all else
we should search for them, prize them, and use them. Study the Bible for
the sake of its wonderful and sacred truth, catch the inspiration of its
writers, and you will soon discriminate the inspired from the
uninspired. With the statements of the true is necessarily more or less
error; the Truth we want, the falsity we leave behind. Whatever is good
and pure and ennobling is of God; whatever is evil, erroneous,
degrading, is from man's misconception of Him.

"Goethe, who highly valued the Bible, said: 'With reference to things in
the Bible, the question whether they are genuine or spurious is odd
enough. What is genuine but that which is truly excellent, which stands
in harmony with the purest nature and reason, and which even now
ministers to our higher development? What is spurious but the absurd and
the hollow which brings no fruit.'

"If you do not understand, wait. Do not judge hastily or allow yourself
to be biased by the opinions of others. What may seem hard, unreasonable
dogma, may later prove but a veil over the sweetest, spiritual truth.
Reverence to read, patience to learn, wisdom to understand--all these we
want, and then, more brightly than before shall shine the sacred
diamonds that stud inspired pages.

"We refer again to what Dr. Newton says in his grand essay on the Right
Critical use of the Bible: 'Successive generations of men, struggling
with sin, striving for purity, searching after God, have exhaled their
spirits into the essence of religion, which is treasured in this costly
vase.

"'The moral forces of centuries devoted to righteousness are stored in
this exhaustless reservoir of ethical energy. At such cost, my brothers,
has Humanity iss