THERE are many millions of people who believe the Bible to be the
inspired word of God--millions who think that this book is staff and
guide, counselor and consoler; that it fills the present with peace and
the future with hope--millions who believe that it is the fountain of
law, justice and mercy, and that to its wise and benign teachings the
world is indebted for its liberty, wealth and civilization--millions who
imagine that this book is a revelation from the wisdom and love of God
to the brain and heart of man--millions who regard this book as a torch
that conquers the darkness of death, and pours its radiance on another
world--a world without a tear. They forget its ignorance and savagery,
its hatred of liberty, its religious persecution; they remember heaven,
but they forget the dungeon of eternal pain.