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قراءة كتاب Bible Stories and Religious Classics

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Bible Stories and Religious Classics

Bible Stories and Religious Classics

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
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All honor, then, to the old Archbishop of Genoa and to William Caxton, who made his work accessible to the youth of England.

The only other work which deserves any special mention as a source for the contents of this volume, is the Stories and Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. If ever there was any one who deserved the title of the Children's Friend, surely this son of a poor Danish shoemaker is the man. His Tales have been translated into many languages, and because of their true imagination and their simplicity of expression they have appealed to all children. Ten or more of them appear in this volume. They are charming and wholesome reading, and their continued popularity makes us realize the truth of these closing lines in Andersen's The Old Grave Stones: "The good and the beautiful perish never; they live eternally in tale and song."

The other sources from which this collection has been made up are so varied as to require no mention aside from that given with each title. The Master Poets of English Literature have been freely drawn upon: Byron to tell of the Destruction of Sennacherib, Milton to sing of Christ's Nativity, Wordsworth to meditate aloud on Duty, and other great writers to emphasize various deep truths of life.

* * * * *

As we turn from subject matter and source to form, we again find great variety. Almost every kind of literature is represented. The early lengends of the Jewish people, told by the author of the Legenda Aurea almost in the words of Scripture, bring to young and old alike the same lessons about God and Duty. The fact that they are legends, rather than exact history, does not in any way lessen their religious value. Then, too, the book contains allegories, such as that of the Pilgrim's Progress, Christendom's greatest religious classic next to the Bible itself, and those of some of Andersen's Tales. Poetry also is well represented, the selections being in large part suggested by Scripture. There are in addition many stories in the ordinary sense of the word—tales which are entirely the fabric of the imagination, but which, like the selections from Hawthorne, have some great lesson to teach. In fact, the literary forms represented in this volume are almost as numerous as those of the Bible itself. The latter used to be looked upon merely as a storehouse of historic facts and devotional songs; now we see in it Legend, Oratory, Poetry, Allegory, History, Proverb and Prophecy; and we find that all of these forms are used by God's servants to teach His truth to men.

* * * * *

Sufficient has been said, I think, to show the purpose and scope of this volume and to introduce the reader to its contents. It is my hope and belief that the effort of my friend, Mr. Philip P. Wells, to make this a collection of religious classics in the full meaning of these words may prove successful. My highest wish, however, is that those who read these selections, with their great variety of source and form, may mark the inspiration of thought or incident common to them all, and may find an interest in refreshing what may be an old acquaintance with that Book of Books which gives with classic truth the fundamental subject matter for all deep thought and high aspiration.

ANSON PHELPS STOKES, JR.

CONTENTS

THE LIFE OF ADAM
HERE BEGINNETH THE HISTORY OF NOAH
THE RAINBOW
HERE FOLLOWETH THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM
HERE BEGINNETH THE LIFE OF ISAAC, WITH THE HISTORY OF ESAU AND OF JACOB
HERE BEGINNETH THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN
HERE NEXT FOLLOWETH THE HISTORY OF MOSES
THE BURIAL OF MOSES
THE HISTORY OF JOSHUA
THE HISTORY OF SAUL
THE HISTORY OF DAVID
THE SONG OF DAVID
THE STORY OF A CUP OF WATER
THE HISTORY OF SOLOMON
THE HISTORY OF REHOBOAM
A LITTLE MAID
HERE FOLLOWETH THE HISTORY OF JOB
THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB
HERE FOLLOWETH THE HISTORY OF TOBIT
HERE BEGINNETH THE STORY OF JUDITH
THE VISION OF BELSHAZZAR
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY
THE BURNING BABE
A CRADLE SONG
EASTER
THE LIFE OF ST. PETER THE APOSTLE
THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE
THE LIFE OF ST. CHRISTOPHER
THE SEVEN SLEEPERS
THE LIFE OF ST. SILVESTER
OF ST. AUSTIN THAT BROUGHT CHRISTENDOM TO ENGLAND
EDWIN AND PAULINUS
THE LIFE OF ST. GEORGE, MARTYR
THE LIFE OF ST. PATRICK
OF ST. FRANCIS
SONG OF THE EMIGRANTS IN BERMUDA
LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS IN NEW ENGLAND
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
THE PILGRIM
THE GREAT STONE FACE
THE GENTLE BOY
THE ANGEL
THE RED SHOES
THE LOVELIEST ROSE IN THE WORLD
A VISION OF THE LAST DAY
THE OLD GRAVESTONE
GOOD-FOR-NOTHING
IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA
SOMETHING
THE JEWISH GIRL
THE STORY OF A MOTHER
THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
FLOWERS WITHOUT FRUIT
CONTENTMENT
THE SEARCH FOR PEACE
A SONG OF PRAISE
THE TRAVELLER
TRUE GREATNESS
CHARACTER OF A HAPPY LIFE
A THANKSGIVING TO GOD FOR HIS HOUSE
FRIENDS DEPARTED
THE LAND OF DREAMS
ADORATION

BIBLE STORIES AND RELIGIOUS CLASSICS

THE LIFE OF ADAM

The Sunday of Septuagesima beginneth the story of the Bible, in which is read the legend and story of Adam which followeth

In the beginning God made and created heaven and earth. The earth was idle and void and covered with darkness. And the spirit of God was borne on the waters, and God said: Be made light, and anon light was made. And God saw that light was good, and divided the light from darkness, and called the light day and darkness night.

And thus was made light with heaven and earth first, and even and morning was made one day. The second day he made the firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament from them that were above, and called the firmament heaven. The third day were made on the earth herbs and fruits in their kind. The fourth day God made the sun and moon and stars, etc. The fifth day he made the fishes in the water and birds in the air. The sixth day God made the beasts on the earth, every one in his kind and gender. And God saw that all these works were good and said: Make we man unto our similitude and image. Here spake the Father to the Son and Holy Ghost, or else as it were the common voice of three persons, when it was said make we, and to our, in plural number. Man was made to the image of God in his soul. Here it is to be noted that he made not only the soul with the body, but he made both body and soul. As

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