New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-21
CuTBCHMEN AT NORWICH.
All. SHADES OF ANGLICAN BELIEF IN
TEE CONGRESS-SOME OF THE
ADDRESSES
Norwich. October 10.

o,,cio,,s body as the Church Congress is the
a,ncuty Of resisting the fascination and charm
= 60 quaint and delightful town as Norwich.
newcomer in East Anglia is SO preoccupied
with ~ arch.t 'ctura, .ory OK the noble old
cathedral the fine examples of old English
and Norman churches. the picturesque Guild
NC me old ashioned inns the towering cas-
40 in the centre Of the town and the maze OF
c,rclinv streets. crooked lanes and paved courts
that it is not easy for him to concentrate his
attention upon the daily sessions Of the Con-
sress IL three halls Norwich. like Ipswich.
where The British Association recently met. Is
no # the most beautiful towns in England
md ought 20 be included in every American
tourists itinerary.
q. The Church Congress this year has met IN
rainy week when the floods were descending
mon The eastern counties. but Notwithstanding
the Indictment weather. II has been most de-
uchtfui and entertaining session. The Bishop
Il Norwich set the right key in his admirable
inaugural address. and the proceedings have
been in the main harmonious. although all
branches Of the Anglican fold have been repre-
sented in the discussions and radical diver
gences IF opinion have been disclosed. Per
hans the most useful function of this annual
congress is that Of offering common meeting
ground. where partisans of all factions can
agree 10 disagree and learn inside the Church
the grace of Christian liberation.
NEW LIGHT on OLD TOPICS.
one If the most scholarly papers Of the SEES
sion was Professor Sayce's on The Authority
and Credibility Of the old and New Tesla
ments as Affected by Recent Archaeological
Researches" 1t wa, logical attempt to meet
upon their own ground the critics who are seek
ing 10 reverse the continuous traditions OF the
Jewish AMI Christian churches. He described
the new teaching as based upon two assump-
tions. First, that literary analysis has shown
tina; the Pentateuoh is the work OF group or
writer's of comparatively late date. who have
combined their contributions so skilfully as to
deceive every one except the higher critic OF
the nineteenth century: and. second. that events
related in the Bible are unhstorical since It's
writer's lived long after what they recorded in
their Scriptures occurred. and since also, they
frequently contradict one another Professor
sayce's main contention in reply was that the
higher critics deal with the Old Testament as
Il no other literature had ever existed in the
ancient Oriental world and while processing to
regard the Bible as merely part Of the gen
eral history Of mankind they nevertheless treat
It as If the Hebrew people had lived by them
selves in desert island.
The truth" remarked the learned professor
'is that from Egypt, from Babylon'a' from
Assyria. nay from Palestine itself. old htera-
lures and inscribed monuments are pouring IN.
coeval with the age of the patriarchs and OF
Moses and offering numberless opportunities
for testing the truth and the antiquity OF the
Biblical record"
Then Professor Sayce proceeded to prove
that the Mosaic age was literary as the age
Of the Renaissance in Europe. and that 1t would
have been a miracle If the lsraeltes. whether
in Egypt or in Canaan had not shared IN the
general culture Of the time In the century De-
fore the Exodus there was an exchange Of
CORRESPONDENCE between the banks OF the Nile
and those OF the Euphrates. and this was IN
a foreign language. and involved the existence
all over the East of schools and libraries, OF
teachers and scholars.
The antiquity of Babylonian literature was
eouaIIv great. There were libraries in Baby
lonia 6 900 years ago and when Abraham was
horn in Tr Of the Chaldees. one of It's poets
WAS composing an epic in twelve works. Moses
could have written the Pentateuch, and those
10 whom it was addressed could have read
and understood IT, The Assyrian monuments
have shown that the Semitic peoples OF the
East did not compile their works as the hlgher
critics would now have the world believe, Tor IN
most cases the older materials were thrown
into shane bv the author who employed them.
Against the contention OF the newer criticism
that the narratives Of the Pentateuch are unhis-
torical and legendary. Oriental archaeology Is
raising constantly growing body or counter
evidence Contemporaneous documents are con-
stantIy being discovered which prove that the
discredited statements Of Genesis after all.
true and historical
Professor Sayce whose argument am rough
" outlining. gave many illustrations beginning
with the campaign Of ChedorlaOmer, upon
which he had laid stress in his controversial
writings and ending with discovery made by
Theodore Pinches which he announced for the
first time That archaeologist had found In
Babylonia in contract tablets Of the regns or
Khammurabi and other kings the names or
Yakub-n and Yasup-ili. or Jacob-el and Joseph
ell These were distinctvely Hebrew names ana
proved that in the very century assigned by the
Bible 10 the lifetime of Abraham. Hebrews with
Hebrew names were living in Babylonia. MI
Pinches himself read paper on his recent re-
searches in Egypt. Palestine and Chaldaea. which
tended 10 confirm the Old Testament narrative at
important points. He asserted that there was
little in the creation legend which could be re-
garded as copied from the Babylonian &C
counts. and expressed his belief that original
Eden might yet be found by excavation.
THE SINAI PALIMPsEsT.
Another interesting paper was read by r. c.
Burktt on THE Sinai Palimpsest and the
Greek Text Of the Gospels" He described In
detail the Syriac Palimpsest Of the Four Cos
pes lately found by Mrs Lewis and Mrs. Glib
son in the Convent Of st. Catherine on Mount
Sinai. He remarked that the Importance OF the
discovery consisted in its being faithful rep
resentative Of the earliest Syrac translation
Of the Gospels The palimpsest was velium
manuscript Of the fourth or the early part of
the fifth century but the version of which
II was a copy. was much more ancient He
commented upon the complete absence Of the
last twelve verses of St. Mark in this palimp-
sest. and showed that the earliest texts from