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GALL & INGLIS, 6 GEORGE STREET;

AND W. & C. INGLIS, 46 HANOVER STREET. GLASGOW: G. GALLIE

LONDON: HOULSTON & WRIGHT.

101. a. 220

PREFACE.

THIS work, it is believed, will be found to differ materially from any Cyclopedia, Dictionary, or Index to the Holy Scriptures hitherto published: its title, "THE BIBLE TEXT CYCLOPEDIA; BEING A COMPLETE CLASSIFICATION OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS, IN THE FORM OF AN ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF SUBJECTS,' distinctly expresses its character. The following is the general plan which has been observed in its preparation :

1. EVERY SUBJECT will be found in it which has a place in the Sacred Volume, whether Doctrinal, Devotional, Practical, Ecclesiastical, Historical, Biographical, or Secular. The name of every person and place connected with any historical event is given, but where such names occur only in Topographical or Genealogical Tables they are omitted. Among the subjects are some of considerable importance which do not appear in any other Cyclopedia.

2. The Author has attempted to discover EVERY TEXT of Scripture belonging to each topic. For this purpose, the whole Bible was formally indexed, verse by verse, and clause by clause, with repeated revision. The Texts thus obtained, amounting to many thousands, were then arranged under their respective heads, and omissions, to some extent, supplied from Concordances, Scripture Text-Books, and similar publications. In this work, the Author has employed his leisure hours for more than seven years. He cannot expect that he has been perfectly successful, as an absolutely complete collection of Scripture passages on every topic is scarcely attainable; but the utmost care has been taken to secure fulness and accuracy, and to make the book a Complete, as it is an Original, Index to the Holy Bible.

On controverted topics, such as Baptism and Church-government, the texts are arranged under their titles without any minor divisions; but on the great Doctrinal Questions, such a system was neither possible nor desirable, as no faithful Index to the Word of God could be made, unless prominence were given to the Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His death for sinners, and similar doctrines.

The texts on Doctrinal, Devotional, and Practical subjects are quoted in full, and are followed by illustrative cases: these are arranged under the

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