, 1875-04-18
Obituary Of the Rev. Jeremiah
A, Kinsella.


AD~A~S A%AA<A - ~A0VA&&AS Oh
Home and Abroad.
Church Services To-Day.
THE AssYRlAN DISCOVERIES
NR5- sW1s8RE1A on THE EFALL1Bu1r1 or x1
SCRIPTURES
To tht Editor of 1h< CHICAGO Tribune:
PrrTaBuBo, Pa, April 9.-I the trar alatiou OF
the.old library noW being exhumed in Assy1iA
should prove that tho histories Of G eneais were
not, as We have believed, special re gelations to
Moses, but only Versions OF old myt what shall
we loee? Must our whole Chrisrirn system be
dscradted, hnd will tho world be ie ftas described
by Jean Paul Richter when be 1e: 4=ped that God
wAa dead? y
Genesis seems to be the csnu.er-stouo, not
only Of the Jewish, but Of the Christian system;
and, it it, statements ate to be fairly
disproved and their clAi1n to inspiration
authotitatiTely discarded. m 1Aons Of jews and
Christians will feel rocnewhat Is tho
Paaaenge1s on tho Alctic Taust have done when
they knew that that littl1 sc1ow propeller had
knocked hole in her hull, and that thar great
ship vas surely going to the bottom Of tha
ocean; but will not the alarm be sronndless7
When Science first a. 4nouuced that God'a hand
writing on the rocks cid conclusivel7 contradict
tho Geues1s accoun't OF creation, there uas 4
Ehiver throughout f3hristendom; but it ali set
tied down again Ehen theo!ogiau. concluded
that the long and Indefinite geological period
ot Science vas tn. *'day " Of Revelation. It mas
carefully descri' Jed in Genesis Us "she evening
AID the morni1 IS" could have beon intended to
mean nj lion years. especially as tho
motions Of the sun aud moon arc mada
and it ia Z till moro difficult to believe thst
creative clergy ceased to act in such WAY aa
to give au shorty to the Sabbath. Ii the other
days we're long geological periods, Why did the
Sabbath differ in the essential feature OF durar
ton? it would have been better, perhaps, that
no suc'a compromise had been attampted.-bet-
ter II He could have admitted Bishop Co1enso's
view OF the Pentateuch,- better il We could
have received the knowledge offa Truth without
atse 4npting to reconcile it with previous opn-
iors; but If the rhole historr to which We have
noE so tenacioualy should conc to b discarded.
Eurely all is not lost.
We should have to give up the Jewish idea II
the Great First Cause. We should lose tie God
Unive1se much moro than compensate us?
Who has not struggled with tho idea
that the Great Heaven-Father, who eareth
for the spar4oWs, who .supplieth tho wants Of
blood all nations OF men to dwell upon tbs face
| Of the whole ea1th," who - nnaketh His rain to
| fall upon the evil and the good" and who doth
| visit the hunblest plant WITH His sunshine and
edge Of His existence from al HIS Intelligent
creatures, and then give it, aa special 1n6eri-
| tance, to ono Arab Sheik or his tribe, to be By
them held as personal p1operty2 How hard il
has been to believe that He WAS party to apolicy
by which He Himaelf was hedged in and fcnoed
about With ceremonies by ono little nation, while
| all the other nations whom He had created, prs
served. and wnnm He every hour visited NTH
His temporal blessings. we're arbitrarily cut OF
from all spiritual communion with Him
Io my m1nd, no emancipation could be "a
| precious as deligerauce from that Egyptian
bondage by which have felt required to pelleve
that the God see everywhere, whose voice il
audible in every sound, either in mercy OF IN
Warninge-that God who is tbs one great fact OF
e1lEten cc,-did ever, ut any time, con6no Hin
tayors to Abraham; did ever approve and holl
up ns. . model t!.t very unlovely character,
Jacoh.; did ever direct and approve the cruel
ant aggressive Wars Of their descendants; did
eqet, in short, do any Of the dreadful things
asc fibed to Him In the Book Of Genesis.
1t would be coming out Of dungeon into thu
s'xeet air Of heaven to hA7a the old jewish
'heology forever dsproTed and Get &t:naugh.,
| as the dream and creation Of . aa1zow-
minded, self-opinioned. and fanatical people,
| Who would not rejoice to kneel on tho
| motntain-top. with the poor pagao, the Mohann-
| nedan, tue Brahuin, the Buddhist, ths barba-
| rian, and saJ, "0ur Father" no matter where
| discoveries may carry as out On thu ocean Of
| Truth, they never can discover God out Of ex-
| lstence; they never can take from " the anchor
OF His presence; and, whatever part Of the BIZ
bla may 50. its pura morality Will remain and
| the knowledge it confirms that God is, AID that
| He is tho 1ewhrder OF tho righteous the pun
iaher Of the wicked. We will still have it's con-
! fr1n2tion-the testimony OF tho best and moaA
earuest seekers after truth, IN many aSea, in
npiEed by the love Of ito confirm tho teach-
| irigs Of Nature, that ita Author is 1nexotah4e
| Law aud an Impartial Executive; that this phJs-
! icat world is typo Of something unseen, tind
| tnat all its anAIogies point to tetr1butlon foz
| broken law.
| Taxo from tho whole Bible the idea Of special.
[ intallnle inspiration which we ha7o 30 long at
! tached TO it, and its question whether its
| value would be increased Or diminished Admit
freely tho probability Of errors rest its t.;a1ms
On its merit, and it Is invaluable as guide, A.
I repository OF much that was lost in the wisdom
| Of the ages Nothing can take from u8 the life.
| tho living example, and the prerepts Of Christ;
| md grant that tha accounts ne have of Him nro
tno imperfect, bus faithful, works ct earn-
est and fa!lible men, IS Liable to errora
as the works OF other men equally earnest and
honest, and how much Of their value is lost?
Let us suppose not only that the writer oz
compiler OF Genesis transmitted what he bo-
1ieVed to be true histories, and w2a mistaken;
but also that the ApoStles, or whooTer wrote thu
New Testament histories, told what on evldenc<
seemed to them tEue, but wero in part mistaken;
and aro their accounts worthless? On what
that al error was excluded from The boc4a Of tha
Bible BY continued super ,a4ural means 7 Wo
have somewhere got the idea that ii is 10, and
cling 70 it with desperation, Is il all we1e lost
provided this idea should be abandoned PROT
eatanta cling to the Written Word Is Catholics
do to the Pope but, as Pope might be Tery
good and useful man, yet Gable TO error. SO sho
Book might be invaluable as teacher and guilds.
md be largely mixed with mistakes.
After III, what would be the practical difference
ho-@u +hE ry.A ~ ~Y% ft,A