Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1860-04-03
Historical Evidences of the Truth Of the
ScriDfurpS.


We presume that our readers are not awar
how rapidly and how remarkably evidence t,
establish the truth of the Scripture records,
being brought forth from the monumental ant
other remains of the buried past
Had the foresight and wisdom of man beer
employed, from the building of Babylon to the
| fall of the Roman Empire. to collect and pre-
serve from age to age such testimonials as nigh
meet and confute the skepticism of the presen
day in regard to the truthf1lness of the histori
cal portions of the Bible, it would not have pro
duced SO deep an impression upon our age a
what God has SO wonderfully preserved, and un
expectedly produced, when needed most, to con
found all skepticism, and confirm the faith o
Christendom.
The assault which has been made by th,
learning and subllety of the German infdelity
upon the credibiity of the Scripture narrative
has ended as every previous attack upon Chris
tianity has done. in establishing its trnthfulness
more clearly and firmly than before. Unbelie
is continually stirred up to fresh attempts, il
| order to show, asst would seem, that at every
point the system Of Christ IS absolutely invul
nerable.
A few years ouly haze passed since these
treasures of the ancient world, which so com
pletely, because nndesignedly, prove the truth
fulness OF Scripture history, were entirely un-
known and when first discovered they were
eagerly seized upon, as the very weapons where
with to destroy the credibility of the Bible
The shouts Of triumph with which the celebrated
Zodiac of Dendora was hailed by the infdel phi
losophy OF Europe, because upon its first super
fetal examination it was thought to sweep away
the whole chronology of the Scripture narrative
have scarcely had time to die away before Chris
tianity has won for herself, and beyond all fear
Of future reversal of the worlds verdict, the
whole field OF evidence, as drawn from the au-
thentic records of every great empire of the an
clent world. Assyria, Babylon, Egypt Persia
and Phnnicla have come forth from their tOrnbs,
at the bidding OF Christian science, and testify
In the clearesJ manner 10 the truthfulness OF
those records which form the historical basis Of
the Christian system. a
One of the most impressive proofs of the gem
uineness of the books of the Bible, is derived
from the late minute and accurate investigation
of travellers in Palestine. Such is the minute
faithfulness Of the Sacred Story, in all things
connected with external things, that it forms tile
best possible hand book for the tourist, and no
candid man III traversing that portion of the
East with the Bible in his hand, can escape the
conviction that its writers lived among and were
perfectly familiar with the scenes which they
describe ass
Every great feature of the scene remains and
presents itself to the eye of the modern traveller,
precisely as they were described by Moses and
David and the Prophets, and with the exception
OF the cities and towns, one knows that he is
looking upon the very scenes which their eyes
oeheld, and which they described so faithfully,
that they are recognized at once, after 80 many
centuries have passed away. The land of the
Prophets and the wondrous people, the land OF
signs and wonders, remains as the writers ol
the Bible saw and described 1.-THE inhabitants
only are gone. Impressions equally strong in
regard to the truth of the Scriptures are derived
from the exhuined remains of the great emp Tres
of the East, with which the Jewish nation stood
connected.
The Mountains of Egypt, the buried palaces o
Babylon and Nlneseh, and the Persian. ruins
in connection with those OF Phmnicia, have en-
abled Christian scholastic reproduce the his
tory, and even the aspect-the fnanners and Gus
toms of past which reaches almost to the Del
uge, and with the history of thuse ages, that OF
the Jewish people and their records has been
found SO interwoveD, that the trnthfulness oi
sacred history must be admitted, or all ancient
history must be Abandoned at once as false.-
To deny the credibiity of the Old Testament
writers is not now to reject the Bible only, but
it is to declare the state records of every ancient
empire false. OF course, men in tbs enjoyment
of right reason, must not be expected to make
this monstrous assumption, and therefore, as we
have said, the truth of the Bible is far more
firmly established than ever. Nor must we
forget that the proof of the historical accuracy
of these writers, in the circumstances in which
they wrote, carries with it the truthfulness ol
their doctrines, unless we are prepared to be-
leve that perfect historical accuracy is con.
nected with hypocrisy and dishonesty in doc
trine.