Upon another occasion, he upbraided the cities in which he had wrought and preached. "Woe unto thee, Chorazin; woe unto thee Bethsaida; for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell!" Does it seem strange that such language should have come from the lips of Jesus? Should we not rather have expected it from the stern Baptist, his forerunner, who denounced the "brood of vipers" that came to his baptism? Is it inconsistent with that spirit of love which we believe to have been the distinguishing characteristic of Christ? But love is not mere invertebral amiability or moon-faced complacency. By as much as love is strong and true, by so much does it seek, at any cost and by any means, to remove the faults and follies of its object. If the lash be needed, the lash it will take. "He who has never experienced the affectionate bitterness of love," says F. W. Robertson, "who has never known how _earnest_ irony and passionate sarcasm may be the very language of love in its deepest, saddest moods is utterly incapable of even judging this passion!" * * * * * Here the writer's task ends. The subject may be capable of much more elaborate treatment; it would be claiming too much to suppose that these chapters exhaust it. The writer trusts, however, that he may have suggested a line of study to others, as it was first suggested to him. The poetry, the dramatic portions, the oratory of the Scriptures, are unsurpassed. Viewed simply as a literary work, the Bible is the most interesting in the whole realm of letters. It becomes increasingly interesting, as its great human elements are recognized. Over history, biography, and most serious discourse, play the soft gleams of healthful humor and the lightning-like bolts of sarcasm and wit. The book touches human nature at all points. The more we view it as "literature," the less as "dogma," the firmer will become its hold upon the heart of man. That these fragmentary studies may help some one to appreciate his Bible better and enjoy it more, is the writer's wish. He may also express, in closing, the hope that whoever has taken the trouble to read these pages may have found them free from that which he disclaimed at the outset--irreverence; as he believes them to be free from the other extreme, superstition. End of Project Gutenberg's Wit and Humor of the Bible, by Marion D. Shutter