Job 15:7

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Art thou the first man that was born?" Job 15:7

The humbling questions which may be put to men! The very strongest man is thrown down from his high position by the force of a blow like this. How difficult it is to be an originator, the very first in the field, the man who had the earliest revelation and the first message to bring from heaven! We cannot get at that man; he is removed from us by a distance we cannot measure. So when the poet sings he accompanies himself upon a harp which other men made; when a book is published it is only an advance upon a book published long before: when a man puts down upon paper all the knowledge he has acquired, he is bound to say that it was an acquisition and not an origination on his part; he says, in effect, Other men have told me this; whether they are right or wrong, I cannot tell; I merely repeat what I have been told. We must distinguish between a voice and an echo. The application of an inquiry of this kind lies in the direction of modifying our infallibility. As I am not the first man that was born, I am obliged to consult some other man, so that we may come to a common opinion about beginnings, and operations, and issues: he may have seen more than I have seen: he may be better able to express himself than I am: he may have the very thing which I want. Here is the great principle of traditional knowledge and relative knowledge; and this principle must be recognised in the interpretation of the universe, and even in the interpretation of the Bible. God takes away from us all privileges which could be ruined into boasting, or he limits those privileges by showing how many other people have shared them, and have borne their elevation in a modest spirit and with a thankful heart. The question would admit of application in regard to all the worlds into which men are born: for example, a man is born into the world of literature, and there he finds himself crowded by ancestors; a man is born into the spiritual world, in which he sings and prays, and holds communion with God, and suddenly he feels himself surrounded by an infinite host of fellow-worshippers; he is born into a world of intellectual activity, and he is surprised at his own mental miracles, and scarcely has he plumed himself upon their originality or novelty when he finds that all he has looked upon as new are the commonplaces of ages forgotten. Thus there is a subtle action of encouragement, and a concurrent action of humiliation, so that between the two the man's mind may be established in modesty and reason. We should beware how we go about boasting of our originality, lest the man to whom we speak has given up our novelties as commonplaces he could no longer tolerate. Thus infallibility goes down; thus all papacy is overthrown; thus all priesthood is dispossessed of authority: we can only live healthfully by mental concession, by discussion, by acknowledgment of indebtedness one to another, and by preserving the fellowship which eventuates in common truths, and sentiments which are sustained by a large common practice. Never listen to any teacher who claims to be the first man that was born; be thankful for any wise man's word who is willing to regard it as but a contribution to the sum-total; and in proportion as the man refers to his authorities, and endeavours to found his claim upon his own gratitude, rather than upon his own inspiration, have confidence in the elevation of his intention.