San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-05-19
Written for the LIGHT by Rev. N. Shultz
THE DELUGE.
Gen. VI, VII. and VIII.
A STRANGE BLENDING OF MYTHoLo-
GY WITH PROBABLE FACTS.
Light Thrown Upon the Story in
Genesis by Modern Biblical Crit
lcism and Modern Science.

Passing along the gravel walk
/ pick up a pebble. 1t is one of
the many pebbles which have been
brought there to serve as foot walks
for pedestrians. Why / pick il IN
/ am hardly able to tell, except it
be because few peculiar mark
ings in the stone attract my eve.
AS l inspect 1t a little closer how
ever, L become aware that what
appears as a common pebble is
nothing more nor less than a shell
or part of shell. whose home
is the distant sea. How il came
in the gravel bed from which it
was taken and which is hundreds
of miles from the ocean, may be
hard to conjecture. Some how it
occurs to me, that L hold within
the palm OF my hand a part of the
history of the earth, natures hi
eroglyphics, to tell the children OF
the nineteenth century of the
Christian era something Of what
went on upon the earth's surface in
those primitive ages. when mans
foot had not yet left the imprints
on the sands of time; when his
eye had not yet gazed upon the
sun by day, nor wondered at the
starry heavens by night.
Today, in the light of geological
researches, there is nothing sur
prising in finding fossils upon
even the highest mountain peaks.
Scientists in fact are conscious
that our earth is a vast tomb, hold
ing the remains of past lives.
10 ancient man, who had no
knowledge of the real magnitude
OF our earth, these signs in the
rock, telling the story of ocean
waves, that must have attained
over the highest mountain peaks
We're indications of tremendous
floods, which at times visited the
earth. No wonder, that these fos-
sill remains baffied early man.
The most eminent scientists at the
present day are ever and again
baffled by new discoveries, which
seem to overthrow all their pre-
vious theories. In part this may
account for bookstores which are
current in the traditions Of all the
nations OF the globe. Even the
American Indians and the Austria
liam Maori have their bookstores,
according to which the greater
part of the human race were des-
troyed.
There is remarkable resem.
blance between the flood. stories of
the different nations. The story
as related in Genesis is but one of
the many. 1t must be borne in
mind, that the human race has
been migrating long before the
art OF letters that mariners have
been shipwrecked upon distant
Shores among savage tribes and
become "like one of them; ;" that
ere historians and students have
gone among the savages, monks
and missionaries have already
been there and given coloring and
attention to already existing
myths. So we find the Babylonian
story of the flood resemble that of
the Hebrews, as though one had
been taken from the other.
In the Babylonian narrative the
God Kronos appears to the tenth
king of Babylon in dream and
warns him of the coming de-
LUCE. This we find to correspond
with the Jewish narrative, as
Noah was the tenth patriarch in a
line from Adam. Even the three
birds are mentioned as having
been let out Of the ark, but in this
case it was a dove, swallow and
raven. The Babylonian ark also
stranded upon mountain.
According to the Egyptian myth,
Ra, the creator, being disguised
with the insolence of mankind, re.
solves to extermiEate them. He
causes blood to flow to Heliopolis
upon which Ra repents and sweara
with uplifted hand, never again to
destroy manfind.
In Greece there were likewise
various bookstores current, each
one representing the flood as DIES.
troying III but a few men.
The Indian tribes Of North and
Centred America have each some
vague tradition of flood in which
all Out a few persons persisted
Only three, five or eight persons
escaped upon some high mountain
of found refuge in a cave.
4 4 The belief in flood which des
troyed all but a few persons i.
quite universal. The question tt
be answered is, did such floOt
ever take place, and, if not, how
came the traditions among the
ions, and how came they tt
resemble one another?
High floods have occurred at al
ages of the world. In an age whel
man had very narrow conception
of the extent of the earth, tida
waves, which swept away who'll
continents, accompanied by earth
quakes and heavy rains, may wei
tend to give him an idea of flooC
as related in Genesis. In fiooC