The Study and Teaching of the English Bible
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In this series of lectures I propose to deal only with the first and fundamental matters, as my purpose is preëminently that of helping those who are beginning the Christian life in the study and teaching of the English Bible.
Among English-speaking people there are two classes likely to read the Bible; first, those who are Christian believers, and secondly, those who, as honest enquirers, are desirous of knowing exactly what is taught in the Scriptures.
There is a distinct difference between these classes in the mood of approach, and consequently in the mode thereof. The first almost necessarily comes to the study of the Bible with a prejudice in its favor, expecting to find therein teaching which will guide in life and service; while the second approaches the study with a perfectly open mind as to what the Scriptures teach, but in many cases with a prejudice against the attitude of the first, not being prepared to admit upon the basis of the conviction of others, that the Bible is the Word of God, that it is a Divine Library, or that the writings are in any special sense inspired. Such a reader does not believe these things because he honestly cannot, and is not prepared to make his judgment blind. There are many senses in which such an attitude is the most easy to deal with, for it is the true condition for receiving teaching.
These classes are, however, unified, by their common desire to study the Scriptures; and they are both asking for help as to the best method of doing so.
CrossReach Publications
G. Campbell Morgan
George Campbell Morgan was born in Tetbury, England, on December 9, 1893. At the young age of thirteen, Morgan began preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Morgan and his wife, Annie, had four boys and three girls. His four sons followed him into the ministry.Morgan visited the United States for the first time in 1896, the first of fifty-four times he crossed the Atlantic to preach and teach. In 1897, Morgan accepted a pastorate in London, where he often traveled as a preacher and was involved in the London Missionary Society. After the death of D. L. Moody in 1899, Morgan assumed the position of director of the Northfield Bible Conference in Massachusetts. After five successful years in this capacity, in 1904 he returned to England and became pastor of Westminster Chapel, London, where he served for the next thirteen years, from 1904 to 1917. Thousands of people attended his services and weekly Friday night Bible classes.He had no formal training for the ministry, but his devotion to studying the Bible made him one of the leading Bible teachers of his day. In 1902, Chicago Theological Seminary conferred on him an honorary doctor of divinity degree. Although he did not have the privilege of studying in a seminary or a Bible college, he has written books that are used in seminaries and Bible colleges all over the world. Morgan died on May 16, 1945, at the age of eighty-one.
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The Study and Teaching of the English Bible - G. Campbell Morgan
Introduction
IN this series of lectures I propose to deal only with the first and fundamental matters, as my purpose is preëminently that of helping those who are beginning the Christian life in the study and teaching of the English Bible.
Among English-speaking people there are two classes likely to read the Bible; first, those who are Christian believers, and secondly, those who, as honest enquirers, are desirous of knowing exactly what is taught in the Scriptures.
There is a distinct difference between these classes in the mood of approach, and consequently in the mode thereof. The first almost necessarily comes to the study of the Bible with a prejudice in its favor, expecting to find therein teaching which will guide in life and service; while the second approaches the study with a perfectly open mind as to what the Scriptures teach, but in many cases with a prejudice against the attitude of the first, not being prepared to admit upon the basis of the conviction of others, that the Bible is the Word of God, that it is a Divine Library, or that the writings are in any special sense inspired. Such a reader does not believe these things because he honestly cannot, and is not prepared to make his judgment blind. There are many senses in which such an attitude is the most easy to deal with, for it is the true condition for receiving teaching.
These classes are, however, unified, by their common desire to study the Scriptures; and they are both asking for help as to the best method of doing so.
It would appear as though there ought to be no difficulty in the matter, but it is quite certain that there is a very serious difficulty. This difficulty is the result of the way in which the Bible has been treated, rather than the outcome of anything in the Bible itself. There are thousands of people who have been brought up in somewhat close relationship to the Christian Church, who nevertheless think only of the Bible as a book of texts from which sermons are preached, or which are quoted in proof of some theological position. The result is an entirely false conception of the value of the Scriptures, and is largely to blame for the present condition of affairs. As I have travelled on both sides of the Atlantic, endeavoring to teach the Bible, and striving to help men to a methodical study thereof for themselves, I have been constantly asked by intelligent young people, some of them decided Christians, others honest enquirers, Will you tell us how to study the Bible?
Now I have never been asked to tell any one how to study Shakespeare. That may be accounted for by the fact that no one suspects me of any ability in that direction; but I venture to say that it is a question that is not asked, even of those who are Shakespearean experts; and the reason is that Shakespeare has not been submitted to the false treatment which the Bible has received; and consequently the difficulty and perplexity have not been created.
The present lectures are intended in the simplest way possible to answer that enquiry.
The Study of the English Bible
I
Some Preliminary Considerations
FIRST let me speak of some purely elementary matters which are necessarily preliminary to Bible study. There are certain matters we must understand before we open the Book, and these are set out in brief form in the accompanying diagram. It will be seen that there are two main divisions, the first dealing with preliminary considerations as to the Bible; and the second with the preliminary considerations as to the study thereof.
A. As to the Bible
I. It is religious
It will at once be conceded that it is necessary to recognize that this is essentially a Library of religious literature. It may incidentally contain scientific facts, or philosophic principles; but it is neither a scientific textbook, nor a philosophic treatise. The nature of its declarations are all primarily religious. They are declarations concerning God and man, and the interrelationships between them.
For the present I am not concerned as to whether the teaching is true, for that is not at all the question at this point. We do not start with that assumption. For the moment I am simply insisting upon the fact that, whether true or false, it is a literature of religion; it claims to declare the truth about God, the truth about man, and the truth about the relationship between God and man.
That it is religious literature is also clearly evident when we consider not merely the nature of its declarations, but also the nature of its appeal. That appeal is twofold, consisting of a call to faith in God, and of a demand that such faith shall be demonstrated by works. That is the double message of the Bible from first to last. If at the moment this may appear to be a narrow conception of the Biblical message, it may be well to say that any decision as to the narrowness or breadth thereof must be postponed until the teaching has been examined.
And yet it must at once be conceded that the effect which this Book has produced, and still does produce, compels the recognition of the fact that it is religious literature. This effect is twofold—spiritual and moral.
It is spiritual in that it produces a belief in the life which lies beyond the present. Wherever men have come to this Bible, have been diligent students of it,