hated the
light, and would not come to the light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20. What they needed was not more light, but that obedient spirit
which loves the light, and allows it to shine through the soul. The man
who would be a successful interpreter of God's word must begin where the
Saviour directed these Jews to begin. So far as he knows the truth, he
must give it a hearty reception not in theory alone, but in daily
practice. Then he will be prepared to make further progress in the
knowledge of it, and to unfold its heavenly treasures to his fellow-men.
But if he comes to the study of God's word with a heart habitually at
variance with its holy precepts, and an understanding darkened by the
power of sinful affections, no amount of scholarship or critical
sagacity will avail to make him a true expositor of its contents. Having
no sympathy with the great foundation doctrines of the gospel, but
regarding them with positive aversion, he will neither be able to
apprehend them in their true light, nor to explain them aright to his
fellow-men. In the work of interpretation, a good heart--good in the
scriptural sense--is not less important than a clear understanding and
well-furnished mind.

6. How extensive and varied should be the _acquirements_ of the able
interpreter will be manifest to any one who considers the extent and
variety of the fields of knowledge covered by the Holy Scriptures.

The _languages_ in which they are written are no longer spoken. The
knowledge of them, like that of all dead languages, is locked up in
books--grammars, lexicons, ancient versions, and various subsidiary
helps--and can be mastered only by severe and protracted study. It is
not indeed necessary that the great body of Christians, or even all
preachers of the gospel, should be able to read the Bible in the
original languages. But it is a principle of Protestantism, the
soundness of which has been confirmed by the experience of centuries,
that there should always be in the churches a body of men able to go
behind the current versions of Scripture to the original tongues from
which these versions were executed. The commentator, at least, must not
take his expositions at second hand; and a healthy tone of feeling in
regard to the sacredness and supreme authority of the inspired word will
always demand that there should be a goodly number of scholars scattered
through the churches who can judge from the primitive sources of the