The Project Gutenberg EBook of Companion to the Bible, by E. P. Barrows

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Title: Companion to the Bible

Author: E. P. Barrows

Release Date: December 9, 2005 [EBook #17265]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPANION TO THE BIBLE ***

Produced by John Hagerson, Juliet Sutherland, David King,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

COMPANION

TO

THE BIBLE.

BY REV. E.P. BARROWS, D.D.,

PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE.

GENERAL PREFACE.

The design of the present work, as its title indicates, is to assist in
the study of God's word. The author has had special reference to
teachers of Bible classes and Sabbath-schools; ministers of the gospel
who wish to have ready at hand the results of biblical investigation in
a convenient and condensed form; and, in general, the large body of
intelligent laymen and women in our land who desire to pursue the study
of Scripture in a thorough and systematic way.

The First Part contains a concise view of the Evidences of Revealed
Religion. Here, since Christianity rests on a basis of historic facts,
special prominence has been given to the historic side of these
evidences; those, namely, which relate to the genuineness, integrity,
authenticity, and inspiration of the several books of the Bible. A brief
view is added of the evidences which are of an internal and experimental
character.

In the Introductions to the Old and New Testament which follow in the
Second and Third Parts, the general facts are first given; then an
account of the several divisions of each, with their office and mutual
relations, and such a notice of each particular book as will prepare the
reader to study it intelligently and profitably.

The Fourth Part is devoted to the Principles of Biblical Interpretation.
Here the plan is to consider the Scriptures, first, on the human side,
as addressed to men in human language and according to human modes of
thinking and speaking; then, on the divine side, as containing a true
revelation from God, and differing in this respect from all other
writings. To this twofold view the author attaches great importance. To
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