



Produced by Al Haines








CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY


OR


A POPULAR INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES


BY

THE REV. HERMAN J. HEUSER

PROF. OF SCRIPTURAL INTRODUCTION AND EXEGESIS, ST. CHARLES SEMINARY,
OVERBROOK, PA.




THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

123 E. 50th Street

New York

1895




Nihil Obstat:
  D. J. McMAHON,
    _Censor Librorum_.



Imprimatur:
  MICHAEL AUGUSTINE,
    _Archbishop of New York_.




COPYRIGHT BY JOSEPH H. MCMAHON, 1895.




PREFACE.

The following pages are printed from notes used in a series of lectures
before the "Catholic Summer School of America" at Pittsburgh.  They are
neither an exhaustive nor a scientific exposition, but are meant as a
suggestive introduction, in popular form, to the intelligent reading of
the Bible.  Some of the answers to questions proposed by members of the
"School" during the course have been inserted where it seemed most
suitable.

I take occasion here to express my deep appreciation of the courtesy
shown to its visitors by the Directors of the "Catholic Summer School."
Their self-sacrificing spirit has secured to the organization the
earnest co-operation of many gifted men and women animated by that
refined Catholic feeling which constitutes the highest type of a truly
cultured society.  Nothing could have placed the institution on a
firmer basis, or could better have given it that guarantee of success
to which the last session has borne witness.

H. J. H.




CONTENTS.

     I. The Ancient Scroll
    II. Strange Witnesses
   III. The Testimony of a Confession
    IV. The Stones Cry Out
     V. Heavenly Wisdom
    VI. The Vicious Circle
   VII. The Sacred Pen
  VIII. The Melody and Harmony of the "Vox Coelestis"
    IX. The Voice from the Rock
     X. A Source of Culture
    XI. The Creation of New Letters
   XII. English Style
  XIII. Friends of God
   XIV. The Art of Prospecting
    XV. Using the Kodak
   XVI. The Interpretation of the Image
  XVII. "Deus Illuminatio Mea"
 XVIII. Bush-Lights
   XIX. The Use and the Abuse of the Bible
    XX. The Vulgate and the "Revised Version"
   XXI. The Position of the Church
  XXII. Mysterious Characters
 XXIII. Conclusion
  XXIV. Appendix




CHAPTERS OF BIBLE STUDY.



I.

THE ANCIENT SCROLL.

If a mysteriously-written document were brought to you, and its bearer
assured you that it contained a secret putting you in possession of a
great inheritance by establishing your relationship to an ancient race
of kings, of which you had no previous knowledge, how would you regard
such a document?

You would examine its age, the character of the manuscript, the quality
of the paper or parchment; you would ask how it had come to you, and by
whom it had been transmitted through successive generations before it
reached you.  And when, after careful inquiry, you had established the
age and authenticity of the document, then you would study its
contents, examine the nature of its provisions, and, having clearly
understood its meaning, ask yourself: How can I carry out the
conditions laid down in this testament, in order that I may obtain the
full benefit of the generous bequest left by my noble ancestor?

It is on similar lines that I propose to treat our subject.  We shall
take up the Bible just as we would take up any other written work,
requiring, for the time being, simply so much faith--no more, but also
no less than we would exact in the fair examination of any other work,
whether of fact or of fiction.

When we have assured ourselves that the Bible is really as old and as
truthful a record of history as it pretends to be, and that it has for
it such human testimony as leads us to admit historic facts in general,
we shall occupy ourselves with its contents, with the influence which
this wonderful book, this ancient testament of our royal Sire,
exercises upon the heart, the mind, the general culture, by which it
leads us to our inheritance, and enables us to assume our place in our
destined home.

The Bible, looking upon it as a merely human production, is a
collection of documents of various antiquity, containing historic
records of successive generations