“Truly said, Miss Church-Member; it comes far enough _from_ the Bible. Why not listen to the voice that is the Bible. Thou art in harmony with every part of Scripture. Let not false voices drive thee on to deeper grief.”
She then looked at the shining form with more curiosity than ever before.
“Who can this be?” she asked Mr. World in a passing whisper. “You have seen how he urges me to perfect peace, and so unselfishly.”
“’Tis but a happy friend that comes in the hour of need. Should we not give heed to his kindly voice? If the studying of that Bible gives you pain, adding to the weight that already wearies your heart, why not close the book and, continuing on this way of ease, look more carefully on outward things again?”
“Think you, Mr. World, that I would lay down my Bible? This is the book that mother loved. It has always been my Book of books. It contains the code of laws that controls the whole spiritual world, and it is the only lamp that leads to light and to the gates of Heaven. You need it as much as I. Why ask me to lay it down?”
“_Nay, nay,_” spoke the angel of light, “_urge her not to discard her Bible, but rather to get a true understanding of it._ Perhaps,” he continued, turning again to Miss Church-Member, “thou hast met with other mysterious verses in this chapter. If so, I will gladly serve thee, for I love to give light to an honest heart.”
“I see nothing more now that gives me trouble. These glasses, which I got through the kindness of Mr. World, have helped me to understand your interpretation so that the rest of the chapter is quite clear to me.”
“And how does the whole Bible appear since thy sight is so improved by those fortunate lenses?”
“It certainly appears vastly different,” she confessed. “It is so much more liberal in its teachings than I ever before imagined.”
“_Hast thou become so far advanced that thou canst, with thy more comprehensive view, distinguish between the inspired and the uninspired parts?_” asked the shining one with an air of dignity.