ON THE

BIBLE.

ITS

STATEMENTS HARMONIZED AND MYSTERIES
EXPLAINED.

DESIGNED FOR THE FAMILY CIRCLE, THE STUDY, AND TO MEET THE
INQUIRIES OF THE PRESENT AGE.

BY ENOCH POND, D. D.,

AUTHOR OF

President of Bangor Theological Seminary, Bangor, Maine.

CHURCH HISTORY," "LECTURES ON THEOLOGY," "MEMOIRS OF
REFORMATION," "Wickliffe," "Seals Opened,"

ETC., ETC.

“Understanding is a Wellspring of Jife unto Him that hath it."

PUBLISHED BY C. A. NICHOLS & COMPANY,

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

1881.

PROV. 16: 22.

Copyrighted, 1881,

BY C. A. NICHOLS & CO.

PREFACE.

THIS work is the child of my old age. My reasons for preparing it have been partly personal. I needed something to do. I must have some steady congenial employment, or I could not be happy. I felt, too, that if I neglected to employ my faculties, I might soon lose them. The best mode of preserving them unimpaired would be to keep them bright with use. At the same time, I could think of nothing on which, at my period of life, I could more appropriately employ my thoughts, than on the Bible. I firmly believed it to be a revelation from God to the world-a "light shining in a dark place;" I had made it, in one form or another, the study of a long life; my sentiments in regard to it were matured and settled; and what better could I do, than to pass over its sacred contents in the form of question and answer, and set them forth for the instruction and benefit of my fellow men?

The conversational form was adopted, as being the most familiar, and the best adapted, perhaps, to arrest and fix attention. The conversations are between a clerical father and his son,—not a mere child, but a son liberally educated, and about to enter upon studies preparatory to the ministry. This remark will show, that the work is not intended merely for children, and young persons. It is meant to be read in families, by Sabbath school teachers, by persons of all ages and conditions in life. Indeed, the conversations, though between father and son, are supposed to be had in a family, in presence of the different members.

And this remark will help to explain the nature of these conversations. The son does not approach his father always in the

character of a mere inquirer, but often as an interlocutor, engaged in carrying on a conversation, and proposing questions for this very purpose-questions which, in some instances, might seem more appropriate to come from the father, than the son.

In conclusion, I commit this, my latest and perhaps my last publication to God and his people, hoping that it may lead to a more diligent study of the Bible, to a greater love for it and delight in it, to a firmer faith in its holy doctrines, to a more strict conformity to its sacred precepts, and thus to a more perfect preparation for that eternal rest which remains for all the children of God.

ENOCH POND.