Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-12-09
GENESIS NOT A cory.

Those modern thoologians who In
sist that the opening chapters Of Gene
oils, containing the accounts Of the
creation, the fall, the Hood, etc, arc
but condensed TRANSACTIONS Of much
older Babylonian works on the same
subjects, the existeuco Of which has In
late years been revealed through the
labom Of explorers, have but little
claim 10 be heard until they are able
10 explain with some degree Of prOba.
bllliy when such TRANSACTIONS could
have taken place. For, II no period
could be pointed out In the history Of
the Hebrews, a. now known 10 ne, IN
which such transcription could have
been made, tho whole theory 10 Of
course worthless.
The time Of the exile has been
suggested. During the seventy
years that the Jews Ia Babylon
were prohibited from returning
to Canaan, there were undoubtedly
some who had access, Mt various times,
10 the royal libraries aud who might be
supposed 10 have mad the qualifications
necessary for tho deciphering Of the
ancient Baby lonlan inscriptions We
need only mention Daniel, who for n
number OF years held tho position Of
prime minister In the vast empire, ami
Ezra, who was much favored by the
emperor, Cyrus, aud who II supposed
10 have been n man well vcrsod In the
sciences OF his age. But notwithstand.
Ing this, on reflection II will appear
how absurd tho suppositlon IL, that
Genesis during this period received an
addition from Babylonian sources
On this subject writer In the July
number OF the Revue SsmRlQus, Paris,
remarks with much force;
without shutting his Dyes wllfully 20
tho light, no ono viii bolioye that during
the half-coniury that the exile lasted, an
lsraelitish priest would study tho poly
thelstic documents Of tho dOstT0yors of
Jerusalem, In order TO extract from thom
an odiiying recital, with tho object of
explaining tho origin Of tho holiness Of
the Sabbath. This hypothesis h the
moro sUnfclcsa because an author of tho
time OF tho exile would have been iu-
capable, without having lost all patriotic
sentiments, u liking tho place " the
Garden blessed by Nnhwo amid those
aOcurHoi waters OF Babylon which had
witnessed 40 many tears and heard 30
many lamentations OF hi cOuntrymeu.
1.-THE theory generally accepted by the
theologians,l No such a monster ever
existed among any people, and tho very
mot OF having Imagined Il docs no honor
10 the critics,
The alleged addition must certainly
have taken place previous to that time.
The era Of David ana solomon wa.
agoldon era In many respects. Inter.
courso with foreign nations ilounshed
M never before. Cuneiiorm insorip.
tions were understood by tho scholars
OF the country. Literature was on.
Outraged and the language developed
TO It's highest perfection. But with all
this the impossibllity OF engraiting
upon the sacred Scriptures anything
foreign to them ought to be apparent,
At this time particularly, whom the
spiritual interest Of the nation was
oentered In the temple and the re-
liglUua obaeTyauces connected with the
holy place, any attempt at adding O.
those books or taking anything from
them would have been detected im-
mediately. And when We 10 beyond
this point and reach the reign Of the
judges, II IL obvious that no literary
importationa from the fat east are pos
sible. The only rational conclusion b.
that the nrst chapters OF Genesis, u,
the rest Of the Pontaleuch, belong Il
the ags OF Moses.
IL has been supposed, because IA,
Babylonian accounts are older than
those In Genesis, that the latter mus
be copies OF the former. The supposi
ton ~ not sound. II has about tn,
same logical value M the hypothusi.
once advocated that China was hrU
settled by colonisls from Egypt be-
cause a resemblance was discovered BOZ
the feast oi lamps OF the Chinese and d
similar feast described by Herodolu
- observed By the Egyptians. All
the ancient nations exhibit mauy
striking similarities In traditions, hiu
tory, habits and religious ileas. III
related that sepOyr who az unu time
joiuei the British army whom scein
the ruins OF the ancient temples %
Egypt, thought they had found tumplrl
dedicated 10 their deiues, and tina
they proceeded 10 worship according &.
their own customs, Babyl lnians
Egyptians, Hlndoos and Hebrews, al
hAd similar accounts Of tho creation
The fall, the deluge, etc, But 1t doe