In His Image

William Jennings Bryan

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• Publié par: nofir
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 45
• Langue: English

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William Jennings Bryan
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Title: In His Image
Author: William Jennings Bryan
Release Date: June 25, 2004 [EBook #12744]
Language: English
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EBOOK IN HIS IMAGE ***
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PG Distributed ProofreadersIN HIS IMAGE
By
William Jennings Bryan
In His Image. James Sprunt Lectures. 12mo,
cloth….$1.75
Heart to Heart Appeals. 12mo, cloth….$1.25
The cream of Mr. Bryan's public utterances on
Prohibition,
Money, Imperialism, Trusts, Labor, Income Tax,
Peace, Religion,
Pan-Americanism, etc.
The Prince of Peace. 12mo, boards….60c.
Messages for the Times. 12mo, boards,
each….35c.
The First Commandment. In simple, unaffected
language, the author enlarges upon the present-
day breaches of the First Commandment.
The Message from Bethlehem. A plea for the
world-wide adoption of the spirit of the Angels'
song—"Good-will to Men." The context and import
of this great principle has never been moreunderstandingly set forth.
The Royal Art. A lucid exposition of Mr. Bryan's
views concerning the aims and ideals of righteous
government.
The Making of a Man. A faithful tracing of the main
lines to be followed if the crown of manhood is to
be attained.
The Fruits of the Tree. "Either for the reinvigoration
of faith or for the dissipation of doubt, this little
volume is a document of power."—Continent.
In His Image
By WILLIAM JENNINGS RYAN
" So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him."—GEN. 1: 27.
1922
Dedicated to the memory of my beloved parents
SILAS LILLARD RYAN
_andMARIAH ELIZABETH RYAN_
to whom I am indebted for a Christian environment
in youth, during which they instilled into my mind
and imprinted upon my heart the religious
principles which I have set forth and applied in the
lectures contained in this volume
THE JAMES SPRUNT
LECTURES
In nineteen hundred and eleven, Mr. James Sprunt
of Wilmington, North Carolina, by a gift to the
Trustees of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia,
established a lectureship in the Seminary for the
purpose of enabling the institution to secure from
time to time the services of distinguished men as
special lecturers on subjects connected with
various departments of Christian thought and
Christian work. The lecturers are chosen by the
Faculty and a committee of the Board of Trustees,
and the lectures are published after their delivery in
accordance with a contract between the lecturerand these representatives of the institution. The
lecturers up to the present have been:
REV. DAVID JAMES BURRELL, D.D., LL.D.
SIR WILLIAM M. RAMSAY, D.D., LL.D.
REV. PROF. JAMES STALKER, D.D.
REV. A.F. SCHAUFFLER, D.D.
REV. HARRIS E. KIRK, D.D.
PROF. C. ALPHONSO SMITH, PH.D., LL.D.
REV. A.H. MCKINNEY, D.D.
REV. G. CAMPBELL MORGAN, D.D.
REV. PROF. J. GRESHAM MACHEN, D.D.
HON. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.
The tenth series is presented in this volume.
W.W. MOORE,
President.
Preface
The invitation extended me by President Moore on
behalf of Union Theological Seminary provided the
opportunity for the presentation of an argument I
had had in mind for years—an argument to the
heart and mind of the average man, especially to
the young. This purpose originated in two desires,
one of which is to repay the debt of gratitude that I
owe to my revered parents for having brought into
my life the Christian principles upon which their
own lives were builded. My appreciation of the
importance of this early training has grown with theyears. As those who brought me into the world,
cared for me so tenderly during my early years and
so conscientiously guarded and guided me during
the formative period of my life, have passed to
their reward, I know of no way in which this
appreciation can be effectively expressed, except
by transmitting these principles to others.
The second desire is to aid those who are passing
from youth to maturity and grappling with problems
incident to this critical age. Having spent eight
years away from home, in academy, college and
law school, I have reason to know the conflicts
through which each individual has to pass,
especially those who have the experience incident
to college life. I never can be thankful enough for
the fact that I became a member of the Church
before I left home and therefore had the benefit of
the Church, the Sunday School and Christian
friends during these trying days.
In these lectures I have had in mind two thoughts,
first, the confirming of the faith of men and women,
especially the young, in a Creator, all-powerful, all-
wise, and all-loving, in a Bible, as the very Word of
a Living God and in Christ as Son of God and
Saviour of the world; second, the applying of the
principles of our religion to every problem in life.
My purpose is to prove, not only the fact of God,
but the need of God, the fact of the Bible and the
need of the Bible, and the fact of Christ and the
need of a Saviour.
Therefore, I have chosen "In His Image" as the titleof this series of lectures, because, in my judgment,
all depends upon our conception of our place in
God's plan. The Bible tells us that God made us in
His image and placed us here to carry out a divine
decree. He gave us the Scriptures as an
authoritative guide and He gave us His Son to
reveal the Father, to redeem man from sin and to
furnish in His life and teachings an inspiring
example by the following of which, man may grow
in grace and in the knowledge of God.
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of
my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my
strength, and my redeemer."
W.J.B.
Miami, Fla.
Contents
I. IN THE BEGINNING—GOD
II. THE BIBLE
III. WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?
IV. THE ORIGIN OF MANV. THE LARGER LIFE
VI. THE VALUE OF THE SOUL
VII. THREE PRICELESS GIFTS
VIII. HIS GOVERNMENT AND PEACE
IX. THE SPOKEN WORDI
"IN THE BEGINNING—GOD"
Religion is the relation between man and his Maker
—the most important relationship into which man
enters. Most of the relationships of life are
voluntary; we enter into them or not as we please.
Such, for illustration, are those between business
partners, between stockholders in a corporation,
between friends and between husband and wife.
Some relationships, on the other hand, are
involuntary; we enter into them because we must.
Such, for illustration, are those between man and
his government, between man and society, and
between man and his Maker.
Tolstoy declares that morality is but the outward
manifestation of religion. If this be true, as I believe
it is, then religion is the most practical thing in life
and the thought of God the greatest thought that
can enter the human mind or heart. Tolstoy also
delivers a severe rebuke to what he calls the
"Cultured crowd"—those who think that religion,
while good enough for the ignorant (to hold in
check and restrain them), is not needed when one
reaches a certain stage of intellectual
development. His reply is that religion is not
superstition and does not rest upon a vague fear of
the unseen forces of nature, but does rest upon
"man's consciousness of his finiteness amid an