Things New and Old. NICODEMUS. THERE is a peculiar charm attaching to the way in which truth is presented to us in the Gospels. It is not, of course, a question of the relative value of truth, inasmuch as truth is truth whether we find it in the Gospels or in the Epistles. But then, in the Gospels, the inspired writers present truth in connection with what we may call scenes in actual life. They give us the history of individuals—their exercises, their trials, their difficulties, their questions, their doubts, fears, and mental conflicts. All this imparts intense interest to the gospel narratives, and tends to rivet the truth upon the heart and understanding. If in the Epistles we have truth didactically unfolded, in the Gospels we have it livingly illustrated. Now we are all conscious of the charm attaching to a living illustration. It commands the heart and engages the attention. We delight to trace the history of men and women of like passions with ourselves—to be told what they felt and thought and said—to know, upon divine authority, that they had the very same doubts, difficulties, and conflicts that we ourselves have had to encounter-to see how those doubts were removed, |