Pith in Exposition [pp. 619-636]

PITH IN EXPOSITION.
the question of secret societies, that of a third by some pet doctrine of theology, that of a fourth by certain theories in regard
to the cave-dwellers and the antiquity of the race. And these
various persons are led into errors by their eagerness to findl
their hobbies in every text. Now in all instances, the earnest
expounder may be drawn farther astray by the inconsiderateness with which he allows his purpose itself to push him. on.
And this is none the less true, when we also recognize the limiting truth, that no blinding power of earnest purpose is half so
misleading as frivolity, or lack of aim, or apathetic, careless
listless heedlessness.
Our current Bible-teaching is capable of some improvement
in this matter of accuracy. This statement holds of many of
our standard works, as well as of oral exposition and newspaper
articles. Dr. Vincent's beautiful Pictorial Bible Geography,
which has become a delight in so many Bible-loving homes, informs us, on page 15, that Isaac went to Haran to marry
Rebecca! Perhaps not one reader of the Bible in a thousand
is familiar with the history of Palestinian explorations during
the past forty years. Yet, without the clew afforded by this
history, one might consult a dozen current maps, and after that
a dozen Scripture geographies and dictionaries, to find the supposed location of Beersheba or Gerar, and still be unable to fix
upon it within fifteen or twenty miles. Indeed, the writerss of
short articles on points of minor importance, are in general, an
extremely unsatisfactory set of people. The trouble is not that
they hold different views, and therefore often contradict one
another. This is to be expected so long as there are a great
number of unsettled points in biblical science. But for the
sake of brevity, or merely to save trouble, writers speak of unsettled points as if they were settled. They take one side of a
controverted question, without at all hinting at the existence of
the controversy. Or, rather than take pains to master the rudiments of a subject, they assume that their readers will be
already familiar with these rudiments, and so content themselves with an indefinite general statement. This is the worst
of all. A man of rather small calibre has undertaken to work
out certain information for you and the rest of the public, and
has been paid for his labor. But he had not the pluck and
persistence requisite for making thorough work of each item.
626
[Oct.