\

CHAPTER

IV

TI-IE TESTIMONY OF THE ORGANIC UNITY

THE BIBLE TO ITS INSPIRATION

OF .

BY THE LATE ARTHUR T. P IERSON

The argument for the i1ispiration of the Bible wliich I am

to pre,sent i's _t,hat draw'1i fro m its iin,ity~ Thi s ttnity may be
see11 in .s~veral conspicuotts particulars ,, upon some of which it

will be well to dilate.

. 1. THE UNI .TY 1s s TRUCTURAL.

In tl1e, Bool< itself ,&pPears a certain archetypal, arcl1itectt1raI pla~1. The two Testaments are 'built on the same general scl1e1ne. Each is in three
p,arts : historic, didact ic, propl1etic ;, looki ng to the past, 'the,
present, and the futu1e.
Here is a collectio11 of books; in their style and character
'tl1ere is great variety and diversity; some are histor ical, other ,s
poeti ,cal; som .e co,ntain 1,aws, other ,s lyri,cs,; some are prophetic,
some symbolic; in the Old Testament we have historical,' poetical, and p ropheti cal divisions; an,d in the New .Testament we
have histori c narr lativ es, then twen .ty-.011eepistl~s l, then a symbolic apocalyptic poem in oriental imagery. A11dyet this is no
a1"tificial arrangement of frag111e11ts. We find ''the Old Test,ament patent in the N ew; the N e,v latent in the Old.''
In such a Boo k, then, it is not likely that there would be
. unity; for all the conditions were unfavorable to a l1armonious
moral t,estimony .and teaching. Here are l some sixty or m,ore
separate d,0cuments, wr itten by so1ne . f 0 1ty differe int persons, ,
scattered over wide intervals of space and time, strangers t@
each o,ther ; these docume nts are written in three different
1anguages, in different lands, amot1g lifferent and sometim~s
~ostile peoples, with mark ed diversities of literary style, and
by men of all gr,ad es of culture an d . mental capacity,
from
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56

The Fi,ndantentals

Moses to Malachi ; and when we look into these productio ns,

there is even in them great unlikeness, both in matter and
mann er of sta teme11t ; and )ret they all constitute on,e vo,lu1ne.
All ar e entirely at agreement. There is diversity in unity,
and unity i11 dive.1s~ity. It is, '' e p,luribits unum.'' The mo re
We study it, tl1e more do its, unity and l1arniony ap pear. , Even
the La.w and the Gospel a,re no t in conflict.. They stan d, .like
t~e cherubim, f.acin.g diff erent ways, but their f acesl are t.oi'ward
each other. An .d the four Gospels !, lik1e th e cherubic creatur es
in Ezekiel's vision, lacing in fottr different dire ,ction ls, move in
one. All the criticism ,of more tl1an three th.ousand years has
failed to point out one important or irreconcilable contradicti1on in the testimony and teachings o.f those who are farthest
separ ated there is no collision, yet there could be no ,col1
1us1on.

..,.
riow can this be accounted for ? There is no answer
wl1ich can be given unless yo u admit th.e supernatural element.
If God actually superintended the production of this Book,
then its unity is the unity of a Divine plan and its harmony
the har1nony of a Supreme Intelligence ,.
As the baton rises and falls in the hand of the co11ductor
of some grand o,rchestra, ftom vi olin and bas.s-viol, co rnet ,and
flute, trombone and trumpet, flageolet and clarinet, bugle and
French horn, , cymbals and drum; there comes one grand harmony I There is no doub t,, tho ,ugh the con.duct or were
s.cr eene ,d f ro m view, tl1at 011 e 1naster mind controls all the
instrt1ment 1al perf orm e ts. Bi1t God m,akes His orat orio to
,play for more thart a t11ousa11d years ; th ,e key is never ],ost and
never change s except by those exquisite modulations that show
the master composer; and wl1en the last stra in dies away it is
seen that all these glorious move1nents and melodies have been
variations on one grand theme ! Did each musician compose
as he played, or was there one composer back of all the play ~
ers? ,cone sttpreme and regulating mind'' in this Oratorio of
the Age s ? If God \Vas the master musician planning the
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Unity of . the B-ible to Its Inspiration

57

Whole ,and arrang-in g the parts, ther1 we can understar1d how

, Moses' grand anthem of creation glided into Isaiah's oratorio
0f the Mes .siah; by and by sinks int o Jeremiah's plaintive wail,
s,wells into Ez ,ekiel's awful ,chorus, cha11ges into Daniel's
rapturous lyric; and, after the quartette of the evangelists,
clos.es with Jo,hn's fl1ll ,cl1oi1of s,aints, a11d an,gels !
The temple, first built upon Mou11t Moriah, was built of
stone,, made rc.ady bef or e it was bro,ugl1t .thither; th ere. was
neither hamnp:er nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in thehouse
\Vh,il.e ~t w,as. in building. What i11sur,ed symmetry in the temple when constructed, and harmony between t.he. workn1en in
the quarries and tl1e shops, and the builders on tl1e hill? One
Presiding 1nind planned the who le, one intelligence built that
whole structt1re i11 ideal bef or e it was in fact. The builders
built. more wisely than they knew, p,utting together the ideas
of the archit ect and not t'heir own. Only so cat1 we a,c.co,unt
for the structural unity of ihe Word of God. The structure
was planned and wrought out in the mind of a Divine Archi~
tect, who superintended His o,,vn workmen and work. Moses
laid it.s foundation ,s, not knowing who sh oul.d build after him,
or what form th ,e str uct ure should assume:. Workman after
wo(rkma11 f ollovved; he might see that there was .a,greement
. ,vi.th wh lat went before, , but he coul d not fo1esee that what
should come after wpuld be only the sublin1e carrying out of
. the grand plan. During all tho ~,, s:i:xteen centu.ries through
which the building rose toward completion, there was no sottnd
of ax ,or h,ammer, no chipping or hacking to , ma'k,e o,ne, pa.r-t
tit its fellow. Everything is in agreement with everything
els.e,, because the whole Bib,le ,vas, built ,in the thought of God
bef'ore one book was laid in orderi The bui.lding r,ose, ste,adi'ty
fr ,om cornerRstone to cap-stone, foundatio ,ns fir.s't, then 1story
after story, pillars on pedestals, and capitals on pillars, and
arches on capitals, tilt, like a dome flashing back the splendors
of the no,onday ,I the Apoc:alyps,e, spans and crowns and comPlete,s, the whole,. glorious with celes,tia1 visions .
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58

The Fundame1ital,s

2.

THE

UNITY IS HISTORIC.

The, whole B,ible is the: his-

tory of the kingdom of God. Israel represents tl1at kingdom.

And two things are: 11oti,ceable. All ,cent,ers abo,ut tl1e He,hrew
natiori : Iity. With their origin and progress the tnain his
toric::al portion b,egins ; and witlr1their apostasy and captivity it
stops. TI1e times of the Gentiles ,filled the interval and have
no proper his,tory ;, prophecy, which is J1,istory a.nticipated, takes
up the 'bro ken thr ,ead, and gives us th,e ot1tline of the future
when Israel shall again take its place atnong the nations.
3,. THE UNITY ' IS DISPENSATIONAL.
There are certain
uniform dispensational f eatu res which distinguish every new
p~riod. Each dispensation is marked by seven features, in the
f ol1owing order: (a) Increased light; (b) Decline of spiritual
fife; ( c) Union between disciples and the world; ( d) A gigan
tic civilization worldly in type ; ( e) Parallel development Of
good and evil; (f) Apostasy on the part of God's people; (g)
Concluding Judgment. We are now in the seventh dispensa.- .
tion, and tI1esame s,even marks have been ttpon all alike, showing one controlling power Deus in Historia.
1

4. THE UNITY IS PROPHETIC. Of all prophecy, there is

but one center, The kingdom and the King. 1. Adam, the
first killg, lost his scepter by sin. . His probation ended in
failure and disaster. 2. The second Adam, in I-Iis probation,

,gained the victory, routed the tempter, and stood firm. The
two comings of this Kin ,g Cot1stituted the two focal centers of
. the prophetic ellipse. His first coming was to make pos.sible
an empi~e in man and o,,.ei;-man. His second co.ming wilt be
to set that empire up in glory : Atl prophecy moves about
these two adv,en,ts., It touches, I sra.el only as relat ,ed to the
. kingdo ,m; and the Gentiles or1ly as related to Israel. Hence,
in the Old Tes ,tament, Nineveh, Babylon, and Egyp~t lo,om up
as the main foes to the . kingdom, as ~epresented by the Hebrews; and in the New Testa1nent, tl1e Beast, Prophet, and
Dragon are conspicuous as the giga,nt,ic adversarie ,s ,of that
kingdom after Israel again takes her, place. .
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Unity of tl1t Bible t,o Its Inspiratio1i

59

There are some six hundred and sixty ..six general prophe
mes in the 0 ld Testament, . three hundred .~nd thirty-three of
\\rhich refer particularly to the coming Messiah, and . meet
only in Him.
.
1

5. . THE

UNITY

IS THEREFOR:E

ALSO PERSONAL:

''In tlie volunie of the Book

,
It is written of Me.'''
Th ,ere is but ,one Book, a11,d within it but ,one Person.
Christ is the center of the Q,Id Testament prophecy, as He is
of New Testament history: From Genesis 3, to Malachi 3,
Re fills out the l1istoric and prophetic profile. Not only do
~he three hundred and thirty-three predictions unite in Iiim,
hut
even
the
rites
and
ceremonies
find
in
Him
their
only

interpreter. Nay, . historic characters prefigure Him, and ,historic events are the pictorial illustrations of His vicarious
rn.inis,try. The Old Testatnent is a lock of which Christ is the
key. The prophetic plant becomes a burning bush, as twig
after twig of prediction flames with f t.11fillment. The crimson
thread runs througl1 tl1e whole Bible. Beginning at f,lnypoint
You may preach Jesus. Tl1e profile at first a drawing, without color, a mere outline is filled in by successive artists, .
Until the life tints glow on the canvas of the centuries, and the
Perfect portrait of the Messiah is revealed.
6. THE UNITY 1s SYMBOLIC.
I m ean that there is ,a co ,r~
.
respond :ing use of ' symbols,, whether in fo,r,m, color, or numbers.. In form, we have the sqttare, the cube, and the circle,
throughout, and used as types of the same truths. In color,
We have the white for purity, the lustrous white for glory, the
red for gttilt of sin a11dthe sacrifice for sin, the blue for truth
and fidelitY to promise, the p11rple for royalty, the pale or livid
hue for death, and the blacl< for wo e and disaster. In numbers there is plainly a nutl1ericaIsystem. One seems to represent uni,ty, two corre -,po,ndence and confirmat ,ion ,or ' contra ,diction, three iS tl1e nun1ber of Godhead, four of the world and
111an. Seven, which is tl1e sum of three and four, stands for.

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60

The Fitndam entals

the combina ,tion Jof the Divine and l1uman; twelve, the p roduct
of three and four, for the Divine i,nterpenetrating the hu~an;
ten, the sum of one, two, three, an,d four, is the nun1be1, of
comple,te,11ess; th ree and a hal,f, the broke ,n number, r'epresents
tribulation ; six, which sto ps short of s,even, is unrest; eight,
W'hicl1 is beyond the number' of res,t, is the , 11ttmbe1of victot1
i\ll this implies ,one presiding mind, an,d it could no 't be ,man's
1

mind.

7. TI -tE UNITY IS DIDACTIC. In the entire range and

scope ,of the ethical teaching of the Bib]e there is no incotl"
stste11cy or adulteration. . But we need t 0 obs,erve :a distinction maintained throughout as to natural religion and spiritual
. 1"eligion. Tl1ere is a natural religioI_I. Had man re1nained
10yal to God,, tl1e univers ,al fa th er hood of God an ,d the univ er,.
sal b10 1therh ,ood of 1na11w1
ould have been th 1e two great facts
and laws of ht1manity; the b1oa,d, ade .quate basiis .of th,e natural
claim of God to filial obedience, and of n1an t,o fraternal Iove,
But n1an sin.ned. He f ell from , th e filial rel ,atio ,nship; tie di,sowned God as his Father. I-Ience, the need of a new and
spiritua .l relation sh,ip, and relig~io11. In Christ, God's father_.
hood is restored and man's br ,otherhood re-established, but
these , a.re treat ed as un.iversal only to the ci.rcle of believers,
~ new ol)edience is now enfor ced, resting its claim, not 011
crea,tio11and providen ,ce, bt1,t on new c1ea.tio11and grace. Ma11
Jea.rns a super natural .love and life.

Upo11 tl1is di,dactic un~ty we stop to expatiate.

. In not 01ie res pect are t,he,se doctr i1ia,l a1id ethical teachitigs
in confi,ict, from be,.qi11,ning
to end; we fi11din them a positive
onen~s of doct1..ir1e which ama,.zes t1.s. Even where at first
glance tl1ere appears to be conflict, as t,etween Paul and James,
we find, 011 closer examination, that instead of stand ing face to
face, beating eacl1 other, they stand back to back, beating off
common foes~
We cbserve, moreover, a progressive dev,elopment of revr
la;tio1i.. Bernhard devoted the powers of l1is master mind to
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Unity of the Bible to Its lnsp-irat-ion

61

tracing the "Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament."

lie shows that although the books of the New Testament are
not even arranged in the order of their production, that order
could not, in one instance, be changed without impairing or
destroying the symmetry of the whole book ; and that there is a
regular progress in the unfolding of doctrine from the Gospel
according to Matthew to the Revelation of St. John.
A wider examination will show the very same progress of
doctrine in the whole Bible. l\fost wonderful of all, this
moral and didactic unity could not be f uIJy understood till the
Book was completed. The progress of preparation, like a
scaffolding about a building, oQscured its beauty; but when
John placed the cap- stone in position and declared that nothing
fttrther should be added, the scaffolding fell and a grand
tathedral was revealed.
8. THE UNITY IS SCIENTIFIC.
The Bible is not a scientific book, but it follows one consistent Ia,111.Lik~ an engine
?n its own track, it thunders across the track of science, but
ts never diverted from its own.
( 1). No direct teaching or anticipation of scientific truth
is here found. (2) . No scientific fact is ever misstated,
though con1mon, popular phra seology may be employed. ( 3).
A.n elastic set of terms is used, which contain, in germ, all
Scientific truth as the acorn en folds the oak.
These statements deserve a little amplification, as this has
been supposed to be the weak side of the Bible. Yet, after a
study of the Word on the one hand and natural science on the
other, I believe we may safe!y challenge any living man to
bring one well-established fact of science against which the
Bible really and irreconcilably militates!
God led inspired men to use such language, as that without teveating scientific facts in advance, it accurately accomlllodates itself to them when discovered.
The language is so elastic and flexible as to contract itself
to the narrowness of ignorance, and yet expand itself to the

62

The Fundamentals

'

ditnensions of knowledge. ' If the Bible may, from imperfect

human language, select terms which may hold hidden truths
till ages to come shall disclose the inner mea,ning, that would
seem to 'be the 'best {solution of this difficult pro'blem. An'd
now, when we come to compare the language of the Bible witl1
modern .science, we find just this to be the fact .
For example, we are told that the Bible term ''firmament''
is but an ancient blunder crystallized. Modern science says,
''Ye have heard it hath been said by t'hem of 014 t.ime, there
is a solid s,phere above us which revolves with its, starry
lamps; but this is an old notion of ignorance, for there is
no.thing but vast s.p.ace .filled with ethe:r above ns, and stars
. have an apparent moti ,on becau-se the earth turns on its axis.''
But this word ''firmament," which has been declar.ed
''irreconcilable with modern astronomy," we :find, on consult~
ing our Hebrew lexicon, means simply an ''expanse~'' If
Moses had been Mitchell, he could not have chosen a better
word to express the appearance, and yet accommodate the
rea lity. He actually a11ticipated sci'ence. Thi s is one of the
''mistakes of Moses'' to which the modern blasphemer does
no,t ref er!
.
.
The g~nera] correspondence between the Mosaic account
of creation and the most advanced discoveries of science,
prloves th .at only He who built the worl d,. built the Book ..
As to the order of creation, Moses and geology agree.
Both teach that at first th ere wa s an abyss, or watery waste,
whose dense vapors shut out light. Both make life to p,recede
light; and the life to develop beneath the abyss. Both make
~e atmosphere to form an expanse by liftipg watery vapors
into cloud, and so separating the fountains of waters above
from the fountains below. . Both tell u s that continents next
lifted themselves from beneath the great deep, and brought
forth grass, . herb, and tree. Both teach that the heavens became cleared of cloud; and the sun and moon and stars, wl1ich
t;hen appeared, began to serve to divide day from night, and
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63

Unity of the Bible to Its Inspiration

to become signs for seasons and years. Both then represent

the waters bringing forth moving and creeping creatures, and
fowl flying in the expanse, followed next by the race of quadruped mammals, and, last o.f all, by man himself .

There is the same agreement as to the order of animal

creation. Geology a.nd comparative anatomy combine to teach
that the order was from lower to higher 'types. First,. 'the
fish, in which the proportion of brain to spinal cord is as 2
to 1; then reptiles, in which it is as 2}1 to 1 ; birds, 3 to l;
mammals, 4 to 1 ; man, 33 to 1. Now, this is exactly the 0rder
of Moses. Who told him what modern science has discovered,
that fish and reptiles belong below birds? As Mr. Tullidge
say$: ''With the advance of discovery, the opposition sup-
posed to exist between Revelation and Geology has disappeared; and of the eighty theo ,ries which the French Institute
counted in 1806 as hostile to the Bible, not one now stands.''
Take an example of this scientific accuracy from astronomy. Says Jeremiah in 30 :22, ''The host of heaven cannot
be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured.''
Hipparchus about a century and a half before Christ, gave tl1e
number of stars as 1,022, and Ptolemy, in the beginning of the
seco,nd century of the . Christian era, could find .hut 1,026.
We may, on a clear night, with the unaided eye, see only 1,160
or in the whole celestial S'p,here, about 3,000. But when the
telescope began to be pointed to the heavens, less than three
centuries ago, by Galileo, the11 men began to know that t~e
sta't..s are as countless as the sand on the seashore. When
Lord Rosse turned his great mirror to the sky, lo ! the i1umber of visible, stars i.nc,reased 'to, 11ea1~ty 400,0100,000 I John
Herschel re solves the nebulae into suns, and finds in 'the
cloudy scarf abottt Orion, ''a go,rgeous bed of stars,'' and the
Milky Way itself proves to be simply a grand processio n of
stars absolutely without number. And so, the exclamation of
the prophet, 600 years before Christ, 2,200 years before Galileo, ''the host of heaven cannot be numbered:' proves to be not

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64

The Fundamentals

a wild, poetic exagger ,ation, but liter aJ trut 11. Wh ,o was Jere-
miah's teacher in astronomy ?
Let us take an example from natural philosophy. Moses
accords with mode rn discoverie s as tot .he nature of light, in n@t
repres ent ing this . myst ery a s being made, but ''called forth,''
commanded to shine. If light be only ''a mod e: of motion,''
how approp r iate such phra seology !
In Job 37: 13, 14, we read of the dayspring that it takes
hold of the en ds of the earth ; it is turned a .s c1a,y to the seal,
and they stan .d as a garment . The ancient cylindrical seals
ro lled over th .e clay, and left an impre .ss of artist .ic beauty.
What was without form before , stood out in bold relief, like
1

'

'

So, as the earth revolves, and bri,ngs each portion

of its. surface successively under t'he sun's li,ght and heat, what
was Oefore dull, dark, dead, discloses and develops beauty,
.a ,nd tl1e cia.y ,Sitand.s like a garm .en.t, curiou sly ,vrought in bold
relief and brilli .ant color s. Consider ed eitl1er as s,c,ienc,e or
poetry, where, in any, O'ther book of anti quity, ca,n you find
anything equal to that? ' That phrase, ''takes hold of the
ends of tl1e earth,' ' conveys the idea of a bending of the rays
0 f light, like the fin.gers of the hand when they lay hold.
WI1en 'the s11nlight would touch the extre :mities ,of the earth, . it
is b ent 'by the atm ,osphere so as to secure contact, and, but for
this, vast portion s, out of tl1e direct line of the sun's ,rays,
,vould be dark, cold and dead. Who taught Job, 1,500 years ,
or more before Christ, to use terms th.at Lon.gfellow or Tennyson migl1t c.ovet to desc1..i.be refraction ?
''When the morning stars , sang togeth er,'' Job 381:7, has
been always taken to be a higt1 flight of poetry. And when in
the Psalms , 65 :8, we read, '~Thou make st the outgoings of tl1e
morning and evening to rej oice,'' the Hebr ,ew word means to
give f ortI1 a tremulous sound, or to mal{e vibrations to sing.
In these poetic expressions, what scientific truth was wra .pped
up 1 Light com es t,o the ey e in undulations or vibrati ons, as
tones of sound to 'the ear. The re is a point at v-1hich these
sculpture.

65

Unity of the Bible to Its Inspiration

\librations . are too rapid or delicate to be d,et ect.ed by our sense

of hearing; then a more delicate organ, the eye, must take note
of them ; they app,eal to the optic nerve instead of the auditory
nerve, and as light and not sound. Thus, light reialiy sings,.
''The lowest audible tone i.s made by 16.5 vibrations of air per
second ; the highest, by 38,000; between these extremes lie
eleven octaves. Vibrations do n,ot cease at 38,000 but our
organs are not fitted to hear beyond those limitations.'' And
so it is . literal]y true that ''the morning stars sang together.'J
Here is Divine Phraseology that has bee11 standing there for
ages uninterrupted. And now we may read it just as it stands:
''Thou ma 'kest the outgoings . '[ or light radia tions] of the morn ing and evening to sing,'' i. e., to give forth sound by vibra1

t :100,.

''Solomon, in Eccles. 12 :6, has left us a poetic description

of death. How tl1at ''silver cord'' describes the spinalmarrow ; the ''golden bowl'', the basin which holds the brain ; the
''pitcher'', the lungs ; and the ''wheel'', the heart I
The circulatio,n 0 f the b,loo,d w.as dis.covered tw enty-s .ix
hundred years afterward by Harvey. Is it not very remarkable that the language So!omon uses exactly suits the fact -a
wheel pumping up through one pipe to di'scharge through
1

another?
9. Last of all, THE UNITY OF THE , BIBLE IS ORGANIC,
And th.isl m ean.s1it is the unity ,of organized being. 0 rgani.c
1

unity implies three things: first, that all' parts are ,riecessary
to a complete who .le , second.ly, that all a1jaenecessary to c,om-
f>le1nent each other; anld thirdly, that .all are pervaded by one
1

life-principle.
L,et u.s apply thels,e laws, to :the W ,ord .of God.

(1). All tlie parts of the Bible are necessary lo its co~
lleteness. Organic unity is dependent on the existence and cooperation of organs. An o,ratorio is not an organic unit. Any

part of it may be separated from tlie rest, or displaced by a

new compos1t1on..,

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66

The Fundame,itals

But if this body of mine loses a11 eye, a limb, o~ . the

smallest joint of the finger, it is f orev er maimed; its completeness is gone. .
Not one of th e books of the Bible could he l,ost without
maiming the body of ti-uth here contained. Every book fills
a place.. No~e can be omitted. ,

_
For example, the Book of Esther has long been criticised
as not necessary to the completeness of the Cano ,nt and particularly, bec3u se ''it does not even once contain tl1e name of
Go,,d.'' But that book is th,e most complete exh.ibition of the
pr .evidence o,f God. It teache s a Divine Hand behind human
a.ffairs; unbia.sed fr ,eedo,m of res.olu.tion a11d action as consistent with God's ovetruling sove1eignty; and all things
W '0 rking toge ther to pr oduce grand res ults.
The boo'k that
thus exl1ibits God's providence does not contai11 the name of
,God ; perhap s be-ca'Us.e t~is book is meant to teae_h us of the
Hidden Hand that, unseen, moves and controls all things.
''Ruth'' seems to be only a love-story to some; but how
rich this book is in foreshadowings of Gospel truth, especially
illustrating tl1e double nature of the God-man, our Redeemer.
Boaz ls a type of Christ Lord of the Harvest, Dispenser
of Bread, Giver of Rest, He is Goel the Redeemer. ~oaz,
the near kinsma n, buying back the lost inheritance and marrying Ruth, suggest s Je sus, the God-man, our near Kinsman,
yet of a higher family, the Redeemer of our lost estate, and
Bridegroom of the reqeem~d Church.

The Epis'1e to Philemon seems at first only a letter to a

friend about a ru~away slave. B,ut this Jetter is full of illus. trations of grace. The sinner has run away fl"om God; and
robbed Him besides. The law allows h.im no right of asylu.m ;
but grace concedes, him the privilege of appeal.. Christ,. God's
Pa.rtnert intercedes. He sends him back to the Father, no more
a slav e but a s,on.
(2). The second law of organic unity is lhat all parts cc-re
'

11ecssaryto, complement ea,ch otlier.

..

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,
Ct1vier has fr ,amed in scientific st.atement tl1i.s law of unity,
Organized being in every case forms a wl1ole, a complete
s,ystem all parts of which mutually correspond; none of these
Parts can change without the other also chang ing; and consequently each taken separately indicates and gives all the
Others,. F~or instance , th,e .sharp-pointe ,d too~h of the },ion re,~
quires a strong jaw; . these demand a skull fitted for the attachtne11tof powerful muscles, both for moving the jaw and raising
the head ; a broad, well .developed shoulder-blade must accomPa,ny siuch a 'head; and there m,u st be an arrangeme ,nt of bones
of the leg whicl1 admits of the leg-paw being rotated and
turned upward, in order to be used as an instrument to seize
and tear the prey .; and of ,cour se th ere must be strong claws
arming the paw. Hence fr om one tooth, the animal could be
lllodeled . though the specie s h ad peri shed.
Thus the Four Gospel s are necessary to each other and to
the whole Bible. Each present s the subject from a different
J)oint of view, and . the combination give s us a Divine Person reflected, projected befo re Us, like an object with pro
Portions and dimensions. .
Matthew wrote for the Jew, an d sho ws Jesus ,as the King
of the Jews, the Royal Lawgiver. Mark wrote for the
lloman, and shows Him as the Power of God,. the MightyWo,rker. Luke wrote for the Greek, and shows Him as
the Wisdom of God, the human Teacl1er and Fri end. John,
\\rriting to supplement and complemen,t th e other Gos~ls,
S,hows Him as Son of God, as well as Son of man, having
and giving et,ernal Ji,fe.
.
These are not Gosp,els of Matthew, etc., but 1Jne Gospel
-

f Chr-ist~according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and Jolin. The

first three present the person and work of Christ from the
0 u.tward, earthly sid e ; the last,. from the inward and h,eavenly.
1

is humanity, 1n John His d1v1n1ty. So,

1n

the close of each:

68

The Fundamentals

in Matthew His resurrection, in Mark His ascension, in Luke

His parting benediction and promise of enduement, and itl
John the added hint of His second coming.
The Epistles are likewise all necessary to complete the
whole and complement each other. There are five writers,
each having hi~ own sphere of truth. Paul's great theme is
Faith, and its relations to justification, sanctification, service,
joy and glory. James treats of Works, their relation to faith,
as its justification before man. He is the counterpart and
complement of Paul. Peter deals with Hope, as the inspira"
tion of God's pilgrim people. John's theme is Love, and its
relation to the light and life of God as manifested in the
believer. In his Gospel, he exhibits eternal life in Christ; it1
his epistles, eternal life as seen in the believer. Jude sounds
the trumpet of warning against apostasy, which implies the
wreck of faith, the delusion of false hope, love grown cold,
and the utter decay of good works. What one of all these
writers could we drop from the New Testament?
The Unity of the Bible is the unity of one organic whole,
The decalogue demands the Sermon on the Mount. Isaiah's
prophecy makes necessary the narrative of the Evangelists,
Daniel fits into the Revelation as bone fits socket. Leviticus
explains, and is explained by, the Epistle to the Hebrews,
The Psalms express the highest morality and spirituality of
the Old Testament; they link the Mosaic code with the Divine
ethics of the Gospels and the Epistles. The passover fore"
shadows the Lord's supper, and the Lord's supper interprets
and fulfills the passover. Even the little book of Jonah makes
more complete the sublime Gospel according to John; and
Ruth and Esther prophetically hint the Acts of the ApostJeS
Nay, when you come to the last chapters of Revelation, yotl
find yourself mysteriously touching the first chapters of
Genesis ; and lo ! as you survey the whole track of your
thought, you find you have been fallowing the perimeter of
a golden ring ; the extremities actually bend around, toucl1f

Unity of the Bible to Its Inspiration

69

and blend. You read in the first of Genesis of the first

creation; in the last of the Revelation, of the new creationthe new heaven and the new earth; there, of the river that
Watered the garden; here, of the pure river of the water of
life; there, of the Tree of Life in the first Eden ; here, of
the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of
God; there, of the God who came down to walk with and talk
With man; here, we read that the Tabernacle of God is with
tnen; there, we read of the curse that came by sin, here, we
tead: "And there shall be no more curse."
(3). The third and last law of organic unity is, that one
life principle must pervade the whole. The Life of God is in
liis Word. That Word is "quick"-living.
Is it a mirror?
Yes, but such a mirror as the living eye; is it a seed? yes, but
a seed hiding the vitality of God; is it a sword? yes, but a
sword that omnisciently discerns and :>mnipotently pierces
the human heart. Hold it reverently; for you have a living
Book in your hand. Speak to it, and it will answer you.
Bend down and listen ; you shall hear in it the heart-~hrobs
of God.
This Book, thus one, we are to hold forth as the WorcJ
of Life and the Light of God, in the midst of a crooked and
Perver se generation.
We shall meet oppo sition. Like the
birds that beat themselves into insensibility against the light
in the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, the creatures
of darkness will assault this Word, and vainly seek to put
out its eternal light. But they shall only fall stunned and
defeated at its base, while it still rises from its rock pedestal,
itnmovable and serene l