If it is so, it is time well spent; for by it he is now prepared to enter with interest into the very soul and spirit of the letter.  While he was ignorant of these points, his knowledge of the Epistle itself must have been very vague and superficial.  Suppose I were now to introduce into this book a letter, and should begin at once, without saying by whom the letter was written, or to whom it was addressed.  It would be preposterous.  If I wished to excite your interest, I should describe particularly the parties, and the circumstances which produced the letter originally.  And yet how many Christians there are, who could not tell whether Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written before or after he went there, or where Titus was when Paul wrote to him, or for what special purpose he wrote!

“This method of studying the Scriptures, which I have thus attempted to describe, and which I might illustrate by supposing many other cases, is not intended for one class alone; not for the ignorant peculiarly, nor for the wise; not for the rich, nor for the poor; but for all.  The solitary widow, in her lonely cottage among the distant mountains, with nothing but her simple Bible in her hand, by the light of her evening fire, may pursue this course of comparing Scripture with Scripture, and entering into the spirit of sacred story, throwing herself back to ancient times, and thus preparing herself to grasp more completely, and to feel more vividly the moral lessons which the Bible is mainly intended to teach.  And the most cultivated scholar may pursue this course in his quiet study, surrounded by all the helps to a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures which learning can produce or wealth obtain.

“I hope the specimens I have given are sufficient to convey to my readers the general idea I have in view, when I speak of studying the Bible, in contradistinction from the mere cursory reading of it, which is so common among Christians.

“Select some subject upon which a good deal of information may be found in various parts of the Bible, and make it your object to bring together into one view all that the Bible says upon that subject.  Take for instance the life of the Apostle Peter.  Suppose you make it your business on one Sabbath, with the help of a brother, or sister, or any other friend who will unite with you in the work, to obtain all the information which the Bible gives in regard to him.  By the help of the Concordance you find all the places in which he is mentioned—­you compare the various accounts in the Four Gospels; see in what they agree and in what they differ.  After following down his history as far as the Evangelists bring it, you take up the book of the Acts, and go through that for information in regard to this Apostle, omitting those parts which relate to other subjects.  In this way you become fully acquainted with his character and history; you understand it as a whole.