"Even St. Paul could invent and enjoy a humorous pun; the proof of
which see Galatians V:12, in the original; so there is high authority
for jesting."--_Kirke._
The title of this book will no doubt affect many persons unpleasantly at
first. "Flat blasphemy!" I can hear some one exclaim, "We have already had
the authority of the Bible undermined by critics, and here is a flippant
rogue who goes still farther, and assures us that it is nothing more than
a jest-book! This is the very climax and culmination of godless folly."
The author makes haste, therefore, to disclaim any intention of
irreverence. To cheapen or degrade sacred things, to "depreciate the moral
currency," is at the farthest remove from his intention. It is easy enough
to take the language of Scripture and use it for coarse and vulgar
purposes, and such use deserves the severest censure. It is not to be
tolerated. Passages that have been light and guidance to multitudes, that
have brought strength to the tempted, certainty to the doubting and
consolation to the bereaved; that have been bread of life to those who
have hungered for righteousness, inspiration to the purposeless and help
to the needy,--have been turned into sources of merriment to freshen
exhausted wit, and season the insipid discourse of stupidity. Persons
whose brains are barren of pleasant conceits find no difficulty in so
perverting a Scriptural expression as to make the "groundlings" laugh. In
no such motives has this volume originated. The title has been chosen and
the work which it covers has been done in the spirit of one who loves the
Great Book, and who would secure for it an additional claim upon human
affection. The studies of the writer have led him into fresh fields and
pastures green, where he has gathered many things out of the ordinary that
have given the Bible a larger place in his own heart.
No; the Bible is not a collection of jests; nor do we characterize it as a
jest-book when we say that it contains Wit and Humor. These elements are
in the Bible, and with good reason. They are not introduced to amuse. They
are not intended to dissipate the weariness of an idle hour. They are not
designed to produce convulsions of laughter. They are subsidiary to the
main theme. They are incidental to the development of religious history
and religious thought. They help reveal in their true light the characters
who from time to time appear; they show the absurdity of the opposing
error and sharpen the arrows with which folly is transfixed. They enhance
in many ways the value and power of our Sacred Book.