The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-01-28
BOOK OF JONAH 4 myth
Nevertheless, the Rev. DR.. Vail
Draws a Practical Lesson
for Christians From
the Story.

~ AtiS iISl
on 1.-THE story of Jonah" He said in
part:-"There is no part of the Scripture
canon that so forcibly illustrates the
wrong use and the right use of the Bible
as does the Book of Jonah. Among ra-
tfonal people it is almost impossible to
refer to it even on a serious occasion lest
the reference should be met by a smile.
The Book has been made the subject of
so much ridicule, that the people have
lost the sense of any serious or import
ant meaning connected with it in any
way. And yet / think / do not exceed
the bounds of moderation when l say
that there is no grander Book in the OLD
Testament than this same Book OF
Jonah. At the same time there is no
Book that has been more misunderstood
and misappEed."'
Here Mr.. Vail gave a synopsis of the
Book, and of the teachings and incidents
connected with the adventures of the
prophet. He said that in light of the diff
ficulties, geographical, rational and I'm
guistic which Jonah must have encoun-
tered, no rational man for a moment
would think of the story as historical.
He then dwelt on the miraculous ele-
ment involved, and said that it was use
less to expect the modern world to long
err believe in the marvellous stories OF
the Book.
IF our acceptance and use of it," he
continued, depends on that, then We
must lay it to one side. But, happily, We
are forced to no such alternative. Let US
then examine the Book carefully and see
what it really ts. We will first trace the
origin and meaning of these great Won
der stories. We need not go far, for they
are as natural and beautiful as any OF
the stories that ever delighted our ears
If you go back to the childhood of the
world, you will find that the early pep
pies under every sky, and in every IAN
guage, told themselves stories the on
goings of the wonderful nature ABOUT
them. How else would they 9 Iney
comprehended nothing OF scientific TACT
or law; and SO the sun, as ne appeared
in the East, and travelled across the
blue sky to his setting in the West, was
to them a divine being.
PEOPLE HAVE LEARNED TO BE
WISE.
ut seems strange to US, but 1T is only
within modern times that people nave
learned to be wiser than this: In Athens,
at its greatest civilization, the first phil
osopher that dared to p%ro ono p,eb,i 5nS
prosecuted and banished for life 1t was
regarded as sacrilege to hold such views
Ter taught that there was a divine being
in each of the heavenly bodies. suidinS
them in their course. Until Newton, WITH
way Of explaining these things. The
early world. as they regarded the sur
as q divine being, they told al sorts o.
sea at night. They believed that the
earth was ti atn, and nd that tba s 5he g sea b sul,
in the morning? Sometimes they toe
about his swimming back under tins
sea, and again they tod stores aDout 3
sea, and when the sun disappeared TINS
monster was supposed to nave d~evoureG
it. He then cast him up me neSt n aeai,
and renew his daily journey. s
Now, if you will notice how THESE
s stories na4 gray it aR was cf ahat it s should come
to take the form in which we have II
in Jonah; for, like the story OF Hercules,
only one form of the old sun hero. In
the first place they would tell this story
Of the sun. By and by the NAME wn snn
would get get to thinking Of this personage
as merely a demi-god, a great P hero, }usl
forgotten all about Hercules heing t n
sun, and yet he was nothing else IN tne
original, and ms b 1Mei io,,r greatt rough The
twelve signs of the Zodiac.
REL RIDING HOOD A FORM.
But they have forgotten tnts' INC no y
mighty man. The last curious form OF
the old sun-myth is the story OF Llttie
oniy the sun hero transformed into a lit.
lie child. The fish or sea monster has
become the wolf that deyourS ner, ano,
Viii Ihs sla ss0t the eH Wolf and cut him open.
and little Red Riding Hood will come
out. That is, the sun no matter h. tba nov now
monster, viii come out the same, UNI
conquering hero as OF oid. \,
he name Of Jonah: but here we have
only a transformation OF the old sur
myth, and Jonah is swallowed and cast
M again according to the story
have on,v been 10 f bave be y9u' one Il
night. This illustrates how different
parts of the story became mixed. Pee
Die would tell m story one day, ana an.
q while they would mix up the different
parts of the story with no regard to con
sistency. For instance. one story relates
to the journey OF the sun towards IN a.
winter solstice, when for three days and
nights he is represented figurat1vely a.
being dead in nearly all the religions OF
the world. He is then reborn, and comes
northward bringing life and light In
his train. Here is the origin of the time
Of Jonah's supposed residence in the
isn WHO WROTE THE BOOK.
Now, who wrote this book? We do
not know. But we know beyond any
rational question that Jonah did not, for
he. lived in the ninth century B. c., and
he book was written in the fourth. Its
author followed the common literary
method of his time. that of writing g
book and attributing 1t to some one OF
more power and Influence. Hence 1t was
attributed to the old prophet Jonah,
whom the people believed in. 1t was
written for a religious purpose, and Its
end would have been defeated had the
,rffI,o- a sorthada < it TO his own name.
This is true of Enoch, Daniel and many
others. The writing nay be called q
novel with a purpose, a story with 9
moral.
sThere is no reason to suppose thai
the author regarded the book as histoT-
ical. any more thar the writer of Robert
Elsnlere regarded her book as historE
cal. 1t was not literally true to the
question of fact; but 1t is true in its
nobler sense, its finer thought; and he
puts it forth as a lesson to his people.
who were narrow, thinking themselves
to be the only favored people Of God,
teaching them that God is equally 10y
ing to all people and just as willing to
save the people of heather Nineveh as
Of Jerusalem, this without special
sacrifice or bloody atonement. The one
condition of acceptance was that they
leave their sins andsturn wholly to Him.
This is the centre of this wonderful
book, which declares fearlessly the doc
trine of the universal owe of God, which
carries with it the universal brother
hood of man,"
Mr.. Vail here showed by many illus
trations that C~hristendom is not yet up
to the level of the Book of Jonah.