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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sept. 1 



Our Homes 



By a. I. Root 



All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 

 profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 

 instruction in righteousness — II. TIMOTHY 3: 16. 



Shortly after our issue for Aug. 1 went to 

 press, our good friend Dr. Miller, in a per- 

 sonal letter to myself, in a sort of postscript 

 at the end, had the following: 



When you have time to think it over, I hope you will 

 take it back that Solomon isn't good authority. That 

 is the entering wedge for disbelief in the whole Bible. 

 If you doubt Solomon, I can doubt Paul. 



A few days afterward came the following: 



Mr. A . I. Root:— The writer of this reads most of your 

 writings in GLEANINGS. Acting upon the suggestion 

 of the publishers, I venture tti write a criticism of 

 your paper in the Aug. 1st issue, .and also offer some 

 suggestions as follows: 



First, you have made a serious error in your criti- 

 cism of Solomon and the writings ascribed to him, and 

 which it is thought you would not have made had you 

 been as well informed as you might have been from a 

 careful search of the Bible on the subject. Kindly 

 read I. Kings 3 : 12 ; also I. Kings 10 ; II. Chronicles 9 ; 

 Matthew 12 : 42. 



From the foregoing you will see that our Lord put 

 the stamp of his approval upon the Scriptures without 

 exception, invoking his hearers to search them as au- 

 thoritative proof of his mission. He unqualifiedly in- 

 dorses the wisdom of the queen of the South in com- 

 ing to see and learn of the wisdom of Solomon. Of 

 Solomon's wisdom you have seen it declared that it 

 embraced the fullest extent of human knowledge— 

 none like him before or after, etc. 



Again, let me suggest that, if you have a copy of the 

 International Series of Bible (if not, obtain one), of 

 modern arrangement; read the Old Testament summa- 

 ry under the heading of Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song 

 of Songs, etc., by George I. Spurrell, M.A., and Rev. C. 

 H. H. Wright, D.D.; and after familiarizing yourself 

 with the views therein set forth, again give us in your 

 journal your views upon the life of Solomon and Ec- 

 clesiastes in the light of your latest reading upon the 

 subject. 



Your writings are read by a large following; and, 

 being a writer of much influence, you should exercise 

 care to insure against writing at random, or in a man- 

 ner that might be construed as an adverse criticism of 

 the Bible, which I do not think you intended. 



Cleveland, O., Aug. 13. Wm. B. Hess, Sr. 



Well, friends, that is rather tough on the 

 author of the Home Papers, is it not? Dr. 

 Miller says my teaching in that one respect 

 is an " entering wedge for disbelief in the 

 whole Bible;" andthisother friend lays down 

 the law (theological law) and accuses me of 

 "writing at random." 



I admit that I have been pulled into deep 

 water; but I wish to suggest that our good 

 friend Keck, Dr. Miller, and the writer of the 

 above letter, are also in deep water. By the 

 way, may I be excused for suggesting, with 

 the kindest feehngs in the world, that it 

 would sound much better if all three of these 

 friends, Keck, Miller, and Hess, would give 

 what they have to say as their opinion, or 

 what a careful reading of the Bible seems to 

 say to them. It does not help me any to have 

 somebody say, "That is the way the Bible 

 reads, and you can not get around it," es- 

 pecially while so many good people under- 

 stand certain parts of the Bible differently. 

 Perhaps I am wrong in undertaking to han- 

 dle such questions in theology. 



In II. Timothy 2: 23 (the chapter preceding 

 the one from which I have taken my text) 

 we read: "But foolish and unlearned ques- 



tions avoid, knowing that they gender 

 strife." I would not have gone into this dis- 

 cussion had not friend Keck led the way; but 

 now we are in it I hope you will excuse me 

 for trying to explain to you how I under- 

 stand God's holy word. 



I do believe, as our text says, that all scrip- 

 ture is given by inspiration. But right here 

 my stenographer, W. P. Root, suggests that 

 the New Version reads as follows: " Every 

 scripture inspired of God is also profitable 

 for teaching, for reproof, for correction, 

 for instruction which is in righteousness." 

 I rather think, come to look into it, 

 that I like the New Version better than 

 I do the old. It seems to me that Dr. Miller 

 and friend Hess both fail to consider the 

 point I made was that Solomon had departed 

 in his old age from the straight and narrow 

 path. Friend Hess refers us to the 10th 

 chapter of I. Kings; but why did he not turn 

 over the leaf and read the 11th chapter also? 

 But before we consider the 11th chapter 

 there is another point. Allusion has been 

 made to the queen of Sheba. When she vis- 

 ited Solomon he was a good man — that is, it 

 looks so to me. He did not show her his 

 thousand wives (and surely not his concu- 

 bines) . The queen of Sheba made her visit 

 to Solomon 992 years before Christ. His dis- 

 obedience to God in worshiping idols was 

 984 years before Christ — eight years later. 

 I spoke of Solomon having 1000 wives in his 

 old age. I shall have to beg pardon all 

 around. That was a blunder. The 11th 

 chapter of I. Kings tells us he had only 700 

 wives and 300 concubines. 



Let us go over that 11th chapter a little. 

 The first verse starts out by saying, "But 

 king Solomon loved many strange women." 

 The second verse says that the Lord spoke 

 unto the children of Israel, and they were 

 expressly and plainly forbidden marriage 

 with the other nations. But marrying these 

 women was not enough. The fourth verse 

 tells us, "For it came to pass when Solomon 

 was old that his wives turned away his heart 

 after other gods." The rest of the chapter 

 tells us about his not only joining in with 

 his wives in idol worship, but he "built 

 high places," or temples, as we would un- 

 derstand it, for the worship of idols. He 

 even had one for the abominable Moloch's 

 worship; and he "burned incense" unto 

 other gods "for all his strange wives." 



The ninth verse says the Lord was angry, 

 because the heart of Solomon was turned 

 away "from the Lord God of Israel." We 

 are told that, after that, the Lord appeared 

 unto him twice, and "commanded him con- 

 cerning this thing." But the tenth verse 

 says, " But he kept not that which the Lord 

 commanded." After he continued to go 

 from bad to worse, paying no regard to his 

 frequent warnings, the Lord said, "I will 

 surely rend the kingdom from thee, and give 

 it to thy servant." If there is any thing in 

 the Bible to indicate that Solomon repented, 

 like the thief on the cross, and received for- 

 giveness, I have failed to find it; yet I am 

 fairly familiar with all the passages that friend 



