Will the Old Book Stand?

Will the Old Book stand, when the higher critics state,
  That grave errors are discovered on its page?
Will it save the sinful soul, will it make the wounded whole?
  Will its glorious truths abide from age to age?

Will its message still abide, when the scientists decide,
  That its record of Creation is untrue?
Tell us the "Descent of man" is by "Evolution's plan."
  Will its principles the sinful heart renew?

When infidels parade, the mistakes which Moses made,
  When the truths of revelation they deny;
Will the ten commandments still, the demands of justice fill?
  Will its Word sustain us when we die?

When in language wondrous fair, Christian scientists declare,
  That there is no evil, only "mortal mind";
When "mental treatment" fails, and "seeming death" prevails,
  In the Bible may we consolation find?

Yes, the Word of God will stand, tho' assailed on every hand,
  Its foundations are eternally secure.
It will bear the critic's test, and the idle scoffer's jest;
  Its saving truths forever shall endure.

—by Wilbur Gildersleeve

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