1. _Through Curiosity._—There are some who read and study the Bible
from no higher motive than desire to know its contents.
2. _Through Literary Taste._—There are others who read the Bible from
an appreciation of its value as a work of literature, recognizing the
high poetic rank of David and Isaiah, the historic worth of Joshua and
Samuel, the philosophic thought of Paul.
3. _Through Opposition._—In every age there have been searchers of the
Bible actuated by the motive of unbelief; men trying to find in it the
weapons for its own destruction. Yet even their study has often proved
serviceable to the believer in the divine revelation.
4. _Through Spiritual Desire._—Multitudes have studied the Bible,
multitudes are studying it now because they find in it that which their
spiritual nature craves, the knowledge of God. They feed upon the Word
because it satisfies the hunger of their spirits.
IX. We find this _divine revelation circulated among men_. The history
of the Bible since its translation into English has been the history
of multiplication. Language after language has had the Bible added to
the library of its language. Unwritten languages have had characters
invented for them to represent their words and the Bible has thus
become the first book of the new-made written language of the people.
All the leading languages of the world have thus been put in possession
of the Bible, and the signs of the times point to a speedy realization
of the hope that soon all the nations of the earth will know the divine
revelation of our Father which is in heaven.