THE PRESS AS A RELIGIOUS AGENCY 



JAMES MONROE BUCKLEY 



[James Monroe Buckley, Editor of The Christian Advocate, New York. b. 

 Rahway, New Jersey, December 16, 1836. A.M., D.D., Wesleyan University; 

 LL.D., Emory and Henry College. Clergyman; Pastorates in New Hamp- 

 shire; Detroit, Michigan; Stamford, Connecticut, and Brooklyn, New York. 

 Member of the Medico-Psychological Society of North America. Director of 

 various Methodist and charitable institutions. Author of Supposed Miracles; 

 Faith Healing, Christian Science, and Kindred Phenomena; A History of Meth- 

 odism in the United States; The Midnight Sun; The Czar -and the Nihilist; 

 Travels in Three Continents; Extemporaneous Oratory for Professional and 

 Amateur Speakers; The Fundamentals and their Contrasts.] 



Religion and the Use of Documents 



ALL the great religions of the world were founded before the art 

 of printing was invented, but all of them made much use of 

 written documents. Books and parchments were employed by 

 the Jews for many hundreds of years before Christ. Daniel, 

 when in Babylon, learned from books, and the author of the book 

 of Ecclesiastes declares that in his time " of making many books 

 there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." The 

 Babylonians possessed the art of writing long before the time to 

 which the life of Abraham is attributed. The sacred books of 

 China are numerous, authentic, and the most important were 

 produced several hundred years before the Christian era. Many 

 of the sacred books of India originated in a still higher antiquity, 

 and are referred by various experts to a period between 1500 

 and 2000 years before Christ. In Persia the books of the chief 

 religion, especially those in a liturgical form, have been wonder- 

 fully preserved. The Avesta, lost or destroyed at the conquest 

 by Alexander the Great, more than 300 years before Christ, is 

 said to have extended to two hundred thousand lines, and at that 

 time to have been in existence several centuries. 



Such was the case with the religions of Greece and Rome. By 

 the circulation of the manuscripts both unity and diversity with 

 respect to religious doctrines and customs were promoted. Mo- 

 hammedanism also in its early history made great use of written 

 documents. The number of manuscripts existing to this day, 

 copies of the ancient, and some originals older than the art of 

 printing, constitute a monument not merely to the ability and 

 learning of the noble minds of their time, but to their marvelous 

 patience and industry. 



When Christianity arose the books of the Old Testament were 

 accessible and were the common treasury of the orthodox Jews, 



