THE CONTEMPORARY PULPIT LIBRARY
SERMONS
J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L.,
Lord Bishop of Durham.
THOMAS WHITTAKER,
2 AND 3, BIBLE HOUSE.
1890.
CONTENTS.[1]
PAGE
- Bethel1
- The Consciousness of Sin Heaven's Pathway17
- The History of Israel an Argument in Favour of Christianity29
- The Vision of God43
- The Heavenly Teacher55
- Christianity and Paganism. I.65
- Christianity and Paganism. II.83
- Christianity and Paganism. III.100
- Woman and the Gospel116
- Pilate129
- The Pharisee and the Publican145
- Our Citizenship157
- Ambition170
by the late
RIGHT REV. J. B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L.,
Lord Bishop of Durham.
BETHEL.[2]
"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew itnot."—Gen. xxviii. 16.
An unobtrusive, unimpressive scene, almostindistinguishable, even to the curious eye of the archæologist, "inthe maze of undistinguished hills which encompass it"—withnothing to attract the eye, and nothing to fire the imagination; largeslabs of bare rock traversed by a well-worn thoroughfare; "no religioloci, no awful shades, no lofty hills." So is the site of Betheldescribed by the modern traveller. Yet this was none other than theHouse of God; this was the very gate of heaven.
An unimpressive scene in itself, but appearing still more commonplace,when contrasted with the famous shrines of heathendom—the rockfortress of the Athene, or the pleasant groves of Daphne, or thecloven peak of Parnassus, or the sea-girt sanctuary of Delos. Nobeauty, no grandeur, nothing of loveliness and nothing of awe, nothingexceptional of any kind which can explain or justify its selection.Was there not ground for the wanderer's surprise on that memorablenight? Why should this one spot be chosen to plant the foot of theladder which connected heaven and earth? Wh