The herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1835-1837, 1837-02-11


paper few day, since on Geology, which seems to
rather initiate against the crediby of the Holy Scrip
lures AS an aware you have the most mistaken
confidence IN her Divine authority, and Willingly
would not publish any thing calculated to shake pub
Tic confidence n them and aware that the bearing OF
the communication did not at first strike your mind
now send you reply, which though wrttea from
The Impulse o. the moment and IN great hurry, may
in measure, help to The influence the 9TH
or might have on the public mind.
am, sir, with great respect,
Your obedient servant AmIcvs.
The whole Of the objections made by J. B. c. to the
Bible, may be comprised in six particulars:
LIST Objectionable asserts "that the Mosaic ac-
count OF CITATION is not LITERAL but figuratve ale
gorical.n
I'd objectsn--" The six days spoken of in the first
chapter of Genesis" he observes, are ordinary
days but that each day is to be taken for thousand
years."
ny TRANSACTIONS revis.ons and corrections, not 10
be confded in"
4th objecton.--"The Chinese systea, Of religion is
s.lilar to that of the Christian"
9Th objection.-"The Chinese Genealogy or records
prove the world to have existed seventy thousand
years. This must be more correct than the Bible"
9th Objection" Geology and the literal sense Of the
Bible are opposed to each other
ANS. An aHeg0ry is an enigma or riddle, in
IoItch oits tt3 IS sad and another thing intended
when Moses said " God formed man from the dust
OF the Earth, are we to understand him as speaking
aliegorcally, viz: that Adam and Eve were merem
agInary creatures ethereal beings who fell down
from some distant planet to the Earth If such an in
tefpretanon OF the passage is to be received, where
then have the human family come from? Have they
sprung up from the earth as plants or mushrooms
Moses assures as that man was formed from dust,
and unte dust he shall return. II the event Justes
the prediction, II is beyond all doubt, man form
ca from dust, because he returns TO it. Matter,
Know, resolves itself into its original and natural ee-
mcnts.
Your correspondent is mistaken in supposing jose
pnus the jewish historian to be favorable his views
lnaa1 sntncn
edrth, because the first man formed from (purras
Ses) red earM Joseph. Ant. Oh. l. J. 4. c. therefore
" erroneous IN the very outset of his argument.
Ans. Are the Elk days mentioned BY Moses in the
hrst chapter of Genesis be understood literally and
according to the vulgar acceptaon Of the days dura-
'ton, or Is each day to be taken for one thousand
years?
Yom Echad means in the literary accep,aton of
the wsrd one day. The Jews have never for a mo-
ment doubted this. The Targums, Tamuds, Rab-
pms, kenchi Eben Ezra and Ababanel have invaria-
set to sunset
And the evening and the morning we read were
(fom Ech az one day. According to the new mode of
calculating time, the sun must be one thousand years
IN rising and setting, and not only but the Jewish
0aoDath must be interpreted to mean thousand
years, and during that period the Jews are to rest
from all kind of labor, and also the cattle and the
stranger within their gates" for in six days the Lord
mads the heavens and the earth, and all the host Of
theln but on the seventh day he rested from all his
work. and commanded it (not thousand years. TO be
kept holy Exod "a: 6. Twenty -four hours make one
day according to the Bible, and thirty days one
m0nth, and three hundred and sixty days one year.
But ). T. q. calculates time differently. One day with
MIN means a thousand years. month thirty thousand
years and three hundred and sixty days three hun
bred and sixty thousand years. Following his mode
DIN ,erpreung Scripture, we have only ev-
cry thrty thousand years and the earth be three
hundred and sixty thousand years performing its
nual revolution around the And as the age of
Adam $3.50 years. II IS innnmerable he have lived
over thriy-three million Of years.
Ans. 3-"The bible has gone through many
TRANSACTIONS versions, and corrections, not to be
conhded IN Josephus is more TO be depended on
than the present version Of the bible. have always
been OF opinion that the greater demand there is for
DOCK, anu the more correct editions we have of it, the
more vauait is. yoney's Ruins of Empires Paine's
Age OF Reason and the French Iniidels Manuel call
ed Conios Morales, have been quite so popular as
TO have 80 600 versions Of them printed within few
years The reason is evident-because they are de-
tested and despIsed by the wise and vrtuous of all ma
tons.
Josephus observes in reference to the Holy Scrip
lures, tAey are gwen by inspiration of God, and
nave been reverea studied, and sought after by pa
trlarchs, prophets priests and kings Dr. A. Clark
says the bible ~ the greatest and most learned book
IN the world" II is made up of history, chronology
natural and moral philosophy, astronomy, DC. Iii
,ne Oldest ana best book IN the world; il teaches man
his dsiy to God and his ncighbor Paine himself adj
mlts the New Testament to contain the best sys-
tenn OF morality Of any book in he world Your cor
Iesponden, denounces the present translation of the
baoic 90 bthlS UNOfltCt we now call upon INN
peravey, and he is bound to do il, to furnish us with
a list OF the errors in it, and correction of them.
AXIS. 1.-The Christian and Chinese systems of
religion similar" We assert without fear of con-
tradlcon, that they entirely dissmilar. Does
Christianity then tolerate vice is it a system of
gross idoatry, blind superstition ignorance murder
incest and cruelty and oppression to the female sex
The golden rule Of the bible is love God with all
our heart and our neghbor ourselves Is this then
10 DC found among the maxims of their religionl
Ans 5.-"Ihe Chinese have records which prove
te world TO have existed seventy thousand years"
10 assert IS one thing toprove is another. The Chi
nese language y the most difficult in the world to
derstand The alphabet consists Of ten thousand cha
raciers 70 learn them correctly would be the labor Of
man whole HE. No foreigner has az yet attained
20 competent knowledge Of this language; and
allowing ne had made himself master of IT, would this
be passport Tor him into the interior of China where
no foreigner has ever been admitted and especially in
to the very palace OF the emperor himself where the
public records arc kept. To suppose that anv man
but native Of the country could have access 10 The
Chinese records u perfect nonsense
Your correspondent cites, however, Sir VIM Jones
rs authority. He does not he observes deny il. h,t
has he any where admitted III We saw no con
yersed short time since with an lltefate n6,leI who
carried the Joke little further. lie said we have
copies the Chinese records in New York" Inskcd
nun where. "0h | cannot tell" l inquired il he
knew Of any scholar in this country, who could read
those records. lie replied several bat could not maine