UNION BIBLE SELECTIONS COMMITTEE Those who have consented to be members of the Union Bible Selections Committee endorse Bible Selections No. 3, entitled "Bible Stories and Poems," as psychologically suitable to be read to and by young people, whether in school or college or elsewhere. They approve the printing of these stories and poems in literary form. Several on the Committee do not wish to be considered as entering into a propaganda for laws requiring Bible reading, but where Bible reading in schools is either compulsory or customary they recommend these "Bible Selections" as made with care and judgment. The Committee will not ask that these Bible readings shall be made (Rev.) Wilbur F. Crafts (P) (Mr.) Frank L. Brown (M) compulsory to the exclusion of other portions of the Bible; nor that this book of selections shall be used in place of the Bible itself for public reading in school or college; nor do they express preference for any particular translation. The Committee believes these stories and poems will be of value to teachers in their present form for selecting and preparing their Bible readings, and that they will serve as an attractive introduction to the Bible for young people, who are entitled to know these stories and poems early in life, alike as literature, as ethics, and as the basis of moral and religious education. (Rev.) Floyd W. Tomkins (E) (Rev.) R. C. Hughes (P) (Rev.) Geo. F. Herrick (C) (CP) (Rev.) Charles F. Aked (B) The following extracts from letters of persons who are not on the Union Committee but have approved the Selections or some aspect of them may appropriately be quoted here, but they should not be construed as meaning anything more than they say: Prof. Max Margolis, Editor-in-Chief Bible Translation Jewish Publication Society of America: "Your compliation of Bible readings from the Old Testament shows great care and judgment." Secretary (Rabbi) F. de Sola Mendes (H) (Rev.) Wm. Sheafe Chase (E) Prof. W. W. White, New York, Bible Training School: "The use of Psalms and Proverbs with the history, is illuminating." President George E. Vincent, Minneapolis, State University: "Your plan of progressive and continuous readings is excellent." Rev. H. F. Cope, Chicago, Secretary Religious Education Association: "I am deeply interested in the plan to put Biblical literature into really modern literary form." Cardinal Gibbons (R. C.): "Your letter announcing the near completion of the book "Bible Stories" is at hand. In reply I am pleased to say that any book of readings made up of abstracts from the Holy Bible, which is the source of light, truth, strength, and grace, must be a fountain of immeasurable good." [Those who read the Cardinal's letter thoughtfully will see that it is an endorsement of the reading of all parts of the Bible, without limit of time of place or person; and, read in connection with plans for promoting Bible reading in public schools which called it out, it shows us that there is no unfriendliness to such Bible reading in the mind of the senior American Cardinal, nor is there likely to be in his confères. Twenty national religious bodies, one British, are represented unofficially above.] OVERTURE OF NATURE LESSONS ON CREATION "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?" Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains. in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him; they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The graven image, a workman melted it, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth for it silver chains. He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved. Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as, grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth; moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed away from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint. Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in his garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou knowest? M.-Isaiah x1, 12-31; Proverbs xxx, 4. "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way." Doth not wisdom cry, And understanding put forth her voice? The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Before the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abound ing with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth; While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, Nor the beginning of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there: When he set a circle upon the face of the deep, When he made firm the skies above, When the fountains of the deep became strong, When he gave to the sea its bound, That the waters should not transgress his commandment, When he marked out the foundations of the earth; and the fulness thereof." And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek after him, That seek thy face, O God of Jacob. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made." Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: Sing unto him a new song; ness. Blessed is the nation whose God is the The people whom he hath chosen for The Lord looketh from heaven; Upon all the inhabitants of the earth; He that fashioneth the hearts of them. There is no king saved by the multi- tude of an host: A mighty man is not delivered by great An horse is a vain thing for safety: great power. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, Let all the inhabitants of the world Upon them that hope in his mercy; stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; He maketh the thoughts of the peoples The counsel of the Lord standeth fast for ever, The thoughts of his heart to all gen erations. To deliver their soul from death, name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, "In wisdom hast Thou made them all." Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; Who maketh the clouds his chariot; Who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh winds his messengers; Who laid the foundations of the earth, The waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away; They went up by the mountains, Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; That they turn not again to cover the earth. He sendeth forth springs into the valleys; They run among the mountains: They give drink to every beast of the field: The wild asses quench their thirst. By them the fowl of the heaven have their habitation, They sing among the branches. He watereth the mountains from his chambers: The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, And herb for the service of man; That he may bring forth food out of the earth: And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, And oil to make his face to shine, And bread that strengtheneth man's heart. The trees of the Lord are satisfied; The cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; Where the birds make their nests: As for the stork, the fir trees are her house. The high mountains are for the wild goats; The rocks are a refuge for the conies. The young lions roar after their prey, F.-Psalms civ, 1-24.* *Locke, the philosopher, "died to the delicious music of the Psalms, read by his bedside at his own request." Humboldt eulogizes the 104 Psalm as "a concise and complete description of the whole cosmos-a psalm of the world." John Milton wrote, "There are no songs to be compared to the songs of Zion; no orations equal to those of the prophets; no politics like those the Scriptures teach." |