, 1879-03-31
Is conspicuous illustration Of prejudice and

EucH ~ " uAk lHG Dlull 10 uuks ~ DlA} III VlSlt-
able br!c'y to consider what the nlble really Is.
We address to ourselves tlieso lucstions: What
docs the Bible profess to bel lMrslsularly, IN
what llEhs arc We to regard the Old Testament,
all eantcially The carly chapters Of III
The ntsk fact TO bB noticed IN rufcrcnco 10 tho
Bible Is, that It is nat olu book, but many books,
not even many chapters Of ono book. hut sixty.
sx separate books, bound tovetl'er for conveu.
tho Old and Now Testament 1t required l,0l0
years to maEe the 1liolU. The ollest buok III
Tie ninle Is supposed to bc that OF Job, nna, II
90, It Is the oldest literary proluctlon now OK
taot. Tho frBt five books OF lle oil Testament
are called the Pcntatouch, or tho flvc.fold-vol-
unc. Moses Is supposed 10 bc the author or
compiler OF these houks, except the last chanlcr
Of the nth. rhcao ,Gyp books are succeeded BY
lng from Deuteronomy to Es,ler. These hts.
tolteal books cover about ,oo years. Then
co,no the pocticat books, Ut which the Psalms Is
promldcnt specimen; and then the prophet
s teen BssHson q ss ssh sosor ot tee eS o T
tarnont and The opening of tho Ncw Is an ".
terval Of AGO years. The New Testament Is
,nnde up OF tho four nccounts Of tho ono lic OF
our Lord; a,e history Of tho planning ot thc
written by five Of the Apostles, md the grind
epic known as Revelations. Rctracing our stops,
NO ilnd in the ordcrOf intellectual deyelopment,
first, tho ten commandments. THIS was The
mid these two were, for n considerable period,
all there was oi ihc Jewish Scriptures. Az
time vent on, and tho Jews wore brought into
contact with other nations. md had varied cx-
pcricucca Of success anu defect, the other books
werc written, all grouping themselves around
the commandments aud the law, AS the central
rulo Of the people. The Old Testament 10 be-
leved to have been COMPLETED eoinO 40o years
before Christ, other by EzrA or Malnchl.
There arc sone things tu reference 10 the .nu-
thorshlp Of tho Old Tcstmcnt that arc porrlcx-
Ing This Is especially true OF the carly chap
tcrs Of the Book Of Genesis Moses was prob
ably tho author, but Moses did not live until
ho records bud tranapfrel. Since ho could not
have been An eye-wltncss, how did ho oblntn tho
informAtionl All The .6peculat[ons upon this
subject arc finally resolved Into two: Either
Of hc gathered them from. prc-c1istnB reG9rls.
Tho latter Ii the moro probable theory. There
| Is too ml1cn accuracy for conjecture, anil yet
not enough TO Justify tho demands Of dvluc it,
sptcnlon. Furthermore, there are certain In.
:crnal evidences In THOSE carly chapters to mako
1t moro than probable that they aro q cotnpila-
tion Of pre-exlstlng documents. The regular
narrative by Moses may 10 said to BEGIN about
previous teu chapters there arc two Important
facts to bo remea.bercl: First, they cover q
T; rertol Of at least l.650 yeaEs; mud, second,
they Gcar tho form o! d series Of sketches that
" unrelated to each other. With ths general
outline Of tho composition Of the Bible bdiore
ns We are prepared intellgontly 10 answer
vaiuc1 As.urcdly hot, II wlat We have said
| Ia true, some portions Of tho Dtb,o must bo OF
far greater value than otl,er portions Of It.
Notably, In reference to the Old Testament, tho
Pcntateuch Is Of moro vauc thah the historical
books. and Of the Pcntatench, the regular
narrative Ia Of much moro vnlMe than tho pre-.
limnary chapters; md Tho psalms md Isa[al,
must BE- awarded II higher rank than tho minor
prophets; Ind rhcn wu come to the Now Tcsia-
tnent The gosDcs transcend tn worth MI else.
| 5econd-lf one part Of the Bible is found to
10 inaccurate either to fact or doctrine. Is It
fair 70 infer that The Bible in all its parts is un
rclIablc1 AssuEedlY not. The pre-patrarchal
pictures which arc given ia The earty chapters in
Genesis may be, or may not bo, consistent with
| our present knowledge; 80 far as the reliable
ness Of the general Mosaic record is ronceEned,
1t IL question Of very small moment which
books bo taken out Of tho canon alid still liz
! essential record retnnins. That there are
errors in The statement ia tho Old Testament,
chiefly In refcrcnSc TO- figures. Is too on7io'it
ebrs~s osD'' wo ef Egyps aapsSi asaer q o,es @
and to which Col. lnCcrsoll refers
is, perhaps, one OF these. There are probably
records Of false miracles In some OF the htstorica
bookH, md theEo is rvaaonahs doubt as to tn
gcnuilcness Of ccrtntll yeraes aud parts Of chap
,tcrs, in ]. Samuel, chap. xvii. There arc als,
instances IN which there Is confusion aud Ills
agreement In tho nso or omission OF tho name
Of persons aud PLACES, sometimes erplicablo MI.
when all ts said that fairly can bc OIL this topic
Tic fact OF tho general accuracy Ut tho Old Test
Mcnt rcnlains. No material question Is in an
way disturbed. Tho errors aro trivial indeed
Tile reliability OF the historic portion Of tho Oh
Testament Ia not any longer Gu open question
Tile accuracy Of It's statements has been testc
III too many ways to ndlnit Of serious doubt.
Thira-Siust one comprehend everything tha
Ia tn, ltS
anythns4 Certainly not. 4 portion OF tho Oh
Testament relates to tho Infancy Of tho race
and hus ITO direct connection with our age I'M
modes Of thought. It is quito impossible IL
nnl experiences oi n iar-away period In tllc
true light 80 as to comprehend thc(r relations /
the css0ntlal thfngd
US TO tho modo In which tic Divine comtn,ln
Gallons wero originally made TO tnan, 1t Is propt
aonethng should bo said. Continually III III
We meet with tho aeclarat!on,, a. Mnd God sald.
! "God snid let tl.oro bc light" or course thct
wus no one present to hear. Tie for,l, Ut O,
preston ia simply tho writer's method OF reprt
sentInE the personality Of God in DIyne oper'
! ttons, ind Is merely u'attur Of metaphor. I'll
safne Is trun IN reference to what God ts repr
ssnted to have said t6 Adam, anl to Eye,
Eoat and ottsss,Hncrely form et with!
ly talked with Moses upon the mount, or ttl
! | ttu Infinite jehovah actually cntno down wlthi
tho slight Of tho people after Moses had recelvu
, The law. Tl!e account covers IN important fac
but the method OF expression Is pictured MI
: peculiar. We aro expressly told iu the FRI
cl,aDtur Of Johns Gospel lint mo man Int
seen God at any titne.,n Viewing lilo ear
talnly not without fntefcse, and largely IT.
from difficulties. ScIcnce might HOW give,
tlln phras0nlogy Of mndegn speech, a moro n
,, curate nccount Of the order OF creation tin
! that which We find there, but such an accoul