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Sidelights on the Scriptures.
#27.
Greek and Roman Antiquities.
pp. 11 - 14
THE ELGIN ROOM.--The object of this series of notes being expressed in the title,
Sidelights on the Scriptures, reference to the many objects of interest and beauty that the
visitor will have before his eyes is precluded.
Architects and artists know the high ideal that the Greek architects and sculptors had
before them when they planted and wrought the buildings that crowned the Acropolis at
Athens. The Temple known as the Parthenon reached perhaps the highest mark of
aesthetic refinement that has ever been reached in architecture. The mouldings and
ornaments of this period are repeated to this day, all innovations and changes proving
somehow failures. Yet all is vanity. The apostle Paul, when he visited Athens, was not
stirred at the exquisite statuary, or the dignity and excellence of the Temple--"his spirit
was stirred in him, when he saw the city full of idols." His reference to the marvellous
temples is recorded:--
"God that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of Heaven and
earth dwelleth not in temples made with hands."
His note concerning the Art for which the land and people were famous is :--
"We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven
by art and man's device."
There is no spirituality in being devoid of artistic appreciation, else were the Philistine
a pattern; spirituality is evidenced when the highest refinements of art are still recognized
as of the flesh, and are seen to be the product of the soul, and not of the spirit, a
distinction made by the Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword.
In this room will be found an architectural model which presents the Acropolis much
as it appeared in Paul's day, when on Mars Hill he preached the risen Christ, God's new
attitude to men, and man's new responsibility to God (Acts 17:).
THE MAUSOLEUM ROOM.--The tomb of Mausolos, one of the seven wonders of
the world, has no direct bearing upon the Bible, but an alabaster jar, discovered upon the
right of the Mausoleum, is of interest to all students of the ancient languages of the
cuneiform inscriptions. The jar is inscribed with the words, "Xerxes, the great King", in
the Persian, Median, Assyrian, and Egyptian languages. This repetition, though small,
affords a good opportunity for testing the differences in the languages of the inscriptions.
THE EPHESUS ROOM.--Another of the seven wonders of the world was the temple
of Diana of the Ephesians. On the left wall is a drawing, showing what the temple looked
like when complete. So devoted were the Ephesians to the worship of Diana that the city