Hundreds  of  passages  might  be  collected — but  qtian-
tity  is  not  our  aim.  (4)  That  Jesus  Christ  expressly
calls  the  scripture  the  word  of  God.  See  Mark,  7  :
13 ;  where  he  refers,  having  just  quoted  it,  to  Exod.
398

What  a  deception  to  the  unwary,  to  the  ignorant
and  unstable  !  What  a  sin  so  to  **  wrest  the  scrip-
tures ;"  and  to  do  it  under  the  forged  claim  of  in-
spiratiouy  the  more  to  blind  the  mythic  visionaries
that  see  with  him  !  The  enemies  of  God  may  see
no  sin  in  the  perversion,  as  they  see  comparatively
none  in  themselves :  but  will  the  friends  of  God
sympathize  or  symbolize  with  them  t

There  is  another  proof  to  the  same  end.  It  is
taken  from  the  etymology  and  scriptural  usage  of
the  expression,  here  rendered  in  the  chapter  four
times,  <'  the  word/'  The  original  is  (>r4iaf  not  ^ioyog.
The  difference  is  that  the  former  means  specifically
what  is  spoken,  enunciated  with  the  organs  of  the
voice ;  and  occurs  in  the  New  Testament  (I  have
counted  and  examined  them)  about  70  times.  The
latter  is  more  generic  and  extensive :  it  means  doc-
trine or  discourse,  a  word  collective  (as  speech)  or
individual,  written  or  spoken,  heard  or  remembered
or  imagined  ;  and  it  means  also,  by  a  grand  and
most  appropriate  personification,  the  Son  of  God  in
his  prophetical  ofiice,  as  the  instructor  of  mankind
and  '^  the  light  of  the  world."  In  this  last  sense
it  is  used  by  John  in  his  gospel,  1 :  1,  and  in  his
Revelation,  19 :  13.  Here  permit  a  digression  in
place.
The  Friends,  Orthodox  and  Hicksites,  the  whole
of  them,  refuse  to  call  the  scripture  the  word  of  God.
