Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-01-16
THE BOOK OF GENESIS.
BY ELDER SAMUEL MAaEE.

BY ELDER SAMUEL MAGEE.
In these days OF skepticism, when
SO many teachers in the Kingdom
of Christ are letting loose the an
chor OF their soul with regard to
the Old Testament, end more es-
pecially the book of Genesis, / de-
sire, with your permission, to put
on record a few facts not usually
taken into account by said teachers.
There are but three ways of gain
ing knowledge: By discovery, by
tradition and by revelation. Which
of these methods can account for
the book of Genesis? Moses could
not have discovered the knowledge
it contains. Therefore, it must be
either tradition or revelation How
did the prophets and apostles re-
gard il?
Isaiah says, 81: 8. "For the
Lord snail comfort Zion. He will
comfort all her waste places, and
he will make her wilderness like
Eden, and her desert like the gar
len of the Lord" Here the refer
rnce is plain. Isaiah believed that
Moses wrote facts and he therefore
believed the story of Eden.
Ezekiel, IS: l3. Thou hast been
in Eden, the Garden of the Lord"
Here the prophet contrasts the
purest condition of man with his
state of innocence in the garden OF
Eden and laments over it. Christ
and the apostles we're familiar with
he book of Genesis, and they al
ways refer to it and to Moses, its
author, in a manner and way that
puts it beyond all controversy as to
it's acceptance as trre history. In
Hebrews, the third chapter, Christ
is described as the Moses of the
new covenant. Stephen, in the
seventh chapter of Acts, testified
IF Moses as a MAJ Of God.
The book of Genesis is the old
est book IN the world 1t is his
Tory and it is religious history
Five principal persons are the pill
lows on which the whole super
structure rests-Adam, Noa >, Abra-
ham, Isaac and Jacob. The man
who wrote the first chapter wrote
the last, and If one is fable all are
fables. Take Adam out of Genesis
md why not take Jacob out toe?
TO the description of Eden, and
he history of the fall and of tn.
deluge, very similar remarks ap-
ply. If we take one part as alle-
CORY, why not all? Prophets and
apostles take them as a literal
statement of facts. There is a
fidelity in the minutest incidents
which conviDces US that we are
reading history and not fable.
Take the hook of Genesis out o1
the bible and the superstructu e
falls. Take the story of Eder ou,
of Genesis and the foundation for
the whole is removed. The book
of Genesis lays the foundation fol
all subsequent books of the bible;
and its value of the history of the
earth, of man, and of religion is in.
estimable. To all this what shall
we now say? The scripture cites
it thirty-three times as an INSPIRED
record
He that cannot see this sun by
its own light, may in vain seek to
find 1t with the candle of human
testimony. If we cannot accept the
testimony of Moses we can OF &C
cept the testimony of Jesus. Jesus
performed miracles to confirm his
divine mission-so did Moses
The skeptlcism of professed Christ
| ians is as illogical as it is worth
less; and cannot be too sternly pu
down. No such theory of inspira
ton is even ineligible. Moses
affirms that he wrote by the com
mand of God, and such phrases al
the Lord said unto Moses" ar,
sprlnkled all through the Penta
teuch. But, like other books, tn,
charms of the bible will very
much depend on the frame of mine
10 which it is studied. To al
earnest reader it will always b.
interesting, To the sk.ptical tn
bible appears false because it i
superhuman Men will have to liv
longer and learn faster than the,
now do in order To know NOR
abou; Eden than Moses did.
rather like Moses account of crea
ton because it puts skepticism t
the test. Men in this world ar
| like boat in the stream; if they G
not forward by the oar they g
backward by the tide; so, if tn
Christian goes not forward b
. Gods revealed will he will e
backward by the strength an
power of skepticism and infdelity
i To be infallibly safe the Chris
r ian must take the blble-the Who'll
. bible and nothing but the bibI.
} t,,r his rule of faith and practic,
County Clerks.
), Mr.. J. V. Williams, Count
i