Omaha daily bee., 1889-03-24
MOSES MADE NJ MISTAKE.
The Book of Genesis and the Record
of Nature.
THEY AGREE IN EVERY RESPECT
How the Present Earth Was Brought
Forth Ont Of Cbaos-.Truths Hid
den in strange Legends
Yebi, the Raven.


Old Testament there is sdch distinction 1T
Is difficult to decide which is the better. The
Mosaic record of the creation is a case in
point. The old version gives an account OF
the creation OF the universe, the new that
of the atmosphere and the earth and their
inhabitants. A glance at the first and
second chapters of Genesis will show they
were written by more than one person, while
here and there in succeeding chapters are
disjointed passages, showing clearly that the
second is an injection into the orgi nal writ
ings of Moses. The first AMI second chap
ters also show the transposition Of these
passages which break the narrative. The
cause OF this can be attributed to the scribes,
and possibly others, when taking into con-
sideration the Genesis history of the dukes
and kings of Edom down to the time of
Solomon, and lthe first Book Of Chronicles.
BY reference to the latter 1t will be seen, the
second chapter of Genesis beginning at the
eighth verse is an injection on the part of
these old writer's, long after the
death Of Moses, to enable the Israelites
to trace their. descent from Adam, the
patriarch through the line of Seth. In the
same manner Luke traces that OF Christ in
the third chapter Of his gospel Accepting
that version as correct and treating these
fragments as mosaics, they are easily pieced,
80 as to make complete and correct account
Of the creation and following events.
Another thing that has evidently been
overlooked Is the rule of the sacred writers
to divide their writings into books. Matthew
begins his gospel thus:
'The book OF the generation OF Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son Of
Abraham"
. hta frnn thnt no ri
arch.
The book of Genesis is divided thus:
1. These are the generations of the heavens
and the earth.
9. This is the book of the generations of
Adam.
8. These are the generations of Noah.
4. These are the generations of the sons of
Noah.
5. These are the generations of Shem.
6. These are the generations of Terah.
In the fifth book the sacred historian con-
fines himself exclusively to the descendants of
Shem, and follows the history down to the
father of Abraham, and his brothers Major
and Haran. From this point, and in Chron-
iclcs l, the history of Abraham and his de-
scendants, the Israeltes is continuous.
AS the Israelites were naughty and proud
OF their ancestry, what was more natural
than for the scribes to trance their lineage
from the dawn OF history, as written by
Moses, the man of God2 Hence the reason
for injecting parts of the second chapter of
Genesis and others into his writings to es-
tablish their claim, and supply some OF the
omissions of Moses. With these points in
view, correct version of the Mosaic record
of the creation can be reached, one that is in
harmony with science and natural law, di-
vided into periods SO far as given By the sa-
cred writers, viz:
IN THE nEGINNING.
sin the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth."-Genesis i, 1.
VHe made the stars lSO,h--GeneSlS /, 10,
"Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished and and all the host of them. Gen
esis ii, l.
BY changing "the heaven" to read ''the at
mosphero" the meaning of the first verse IS
clear, viz. Sin the beginning God created
the atmosphere and the earth"
In the next chapter is an account Of the
condition of the earth before the
cataclysm preceding the advent of man
which can be called.
THE HEATED TERM.
"And no plant of the field was yet in the
earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung
rain upon the earth, and there was not a man
to till the earth. ."-Genesis ii, 5.
"But there went up mist from the earth
and watered the face of the ground. Gen
esis Ii, g.
Here we have the record of the period
rain on the earth. 1t shows that the earth
was too hot to be productive, possibly then in
the present condition OF Jupiter and Saturn,
or at later stage, that of Venus, which at
it's last transit was seen to be green, depot-
ing the presence of water. This has been
its color Tor centuries as shown by the
records of the Chaldeaus. / am of the opin-
ion that Venus IS now in the same condition
rs the earth preceding the advent of man,
that Is, covered by water, excepting its high
est elevations, to cool it, and prepare the
planet for higher development.
The absence Of rain on the earth during
this period was owing to the heated condi
tion of the atmosphere and the earth, 1t is
necessary to have cold as well rs heat to
produce rain. Mist is produced by the
moisture drawn from the earth ascending to
great height, where it meets the cool air
and then descends. Genesis thus briefly
nlludes to this heated term of the earth, and
leaves us to infer, as science declares, that in
the succeeding ages 1t gradually cooled,
when vegetation and life began. Here Is a
gap in the narrative for which we must look
outside of the Scriptures.
The next we have is that of the earth hav-
Ing passed through q cataclysm, whether
produced by the action of the heavenly
bodies or collision with comet, none can
cay The inference is that 1t was caused by
aome outside celestial influence acting on the
atmosphere, and destroying its self-acting
arincple or armament, IL we accept the ver-
pion that tho collision with Biela's comet
saused the great fires at Chicago and in the
northwest in October, 1871.
The earth having passed through this con-
vulsion, the next stop brings us to
THE COOLING TERM,
when it was to be fitted for man and the
present animal kingdom.
"And the earth was null and void and
darkness was upon the face of the deep."-
Genesis |, =
Tho new version of the old testament says
sand the earth was waste and void"
As the term 'voidn IN this case means
desolate, 1t will be seen the earth NJ this
stage was waste and desolate 1t was upin.
, habited, tenantless, no life no vegetation,
nothing but water, and the darkness pro-
duced by thickened atmosphere
The next stage Is the disappearance of
THE FIRST HISTORIC DELUGE.
sand the spirit of God moved upon tile
. face Of the waters. ."---Genesis |, Q.
Here we have the process by which this
mighty event was accomplished. One trans
laticn conveys the meaning that the spirit
, brooded upon the face of the waters. But
the word "ruhr," while it means spirit, also
means wind. So the passage properly inter
preted would read thus:
"And the wind of God moved upon the
face of the waters"
This brings us face 10 face with natural
law, mighty wind moving upon the face OF
the waters, and thus while moving the
waters also stirring, or rending the atmos
phere and cleansing II. This was immediately
followed by the appearance OF
DAY AND NIGHT,
making the first day Of the present stage o.
the earth.
"And God said let there be light and there
Isfhe ia