Book excerpt: It is infinitely better to commence a study of the prophets with what they themselves have written rather than with the meagre narratives and scattered legends of their deeds and words. In their own writings they have most distinctly and trustworthily laid bare their spirit. Whoever desires to know in their inmost hearts these heroes of divine truth and to admire their genuine greatness, should learn first to understand their words and actions as they themselves have recorded them. It is here that they approach us most closely and confidingly, inviting us most irresistibly to make ourselves acquainted with them. --from the Introduction