Witnesses to Truth

Transcribed from the 1883 Church of England Book Society edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
BY THE REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A., VICAR OF TRINITY CHURCH, TUNBRIDGE WELLS; AND HONORARY CANON OF CANTERBURY.
AUTHORIZED EDITION .
LONDON: THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND BOOK SOCIETY, 11, ADAM STREET, STRAND.
1883.
The Bible has been compared to a river in which a child may wade, and an elephant swim; by which is meant that it is full of practical truth so plainly revealed that a little child may rejoice in it, while at the same time it is full of truth so deep that the loftiest intellect of man is very soon out of its depth in the study of it. Thus there are few things more beautifully simple than a living faith. It is the unquestioning trust of one who loves his God and Saviour; the calm repose of the dependent heart on One who has summed up His Gospel in the words “Come unto Me.” Thus there are thousands, and tens of thousands, of happy believers who have accepted the great salvation just as God has given it; and who, without perplexing their minds about matters which they cannot understand, most thankfully receive what God has revealed, and rejoice in it with their whole hearts as belonging to themselves and their children. As little children they receive and trust, the result of which is that they rest in their Saviour as a child rests in its mother’s arms. I believe there are those by whom such persons are despised, and by whom they are regarded as weak, foolish, and contemptible; but they have the joy of the Lord, and, instead of being despised , they may well be envied by those who, in the consciousness of superior intellect, consider themselves qualified to despise their folly.
But, while we rejoice in this simple and childlike Christian faith, it is vain to deny that in “the deep things of God” there are difficulties, and that there are other minds to whom these difficulties are a source of real and grave perplexity. I am not now speaking of those who delight in magnifying difficulties, and whose only object in reading their Bible is to find out something at which they may cavil; but I am speaking rather of thoughtful men who respect religion, and are not opposed to truth; who have never set their face against the Gospel; and to whom it would be a real cause of heartfelt thanksgiving if they were able to receive, in the simplicity of faith, the great salvation revealed to them in the Word of God. They have no wish to be unbelievers; their hearts are not set against the truth; and they believe enough to make them long to believe the whole . But there are some things that perplex them, and there are certain difficulties which they cannot quite get over.