The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-22

and the story of the deluge is found writ
ten on Syrian tablets far prior to the time
of Moses. 8
AN ASSYRIAN TABLET.
The account of the deluge which 1 am
going to- read is IA very short, COM
plete translation from a Syrian tablet,
which George Smith puts as far back as
1000 B. c. That is five or six hundred years
before the days of Moses, and twelve or
fifteen hundred years before the date of
Genesis, if it was written at the time many
modern scholars suppose it to have been
written. So that now we know that the
legends Of which modern scholars think
the book of Genesis is composed actually
did exist outside of that book, and before
that book was written:
i. The surfacetof the earth is swept.
2. 1t destroyed all life from the face of the
earth.
3. The strong deluge over the people reached
T. Brother saw not his brother they did not
know the people In heaven
5. the gods feared the tempest and
6. sought refuge: they assembled to the heaven
T. The gods like dogs in droves PROSTATE.
20. passed: the wind. deluge and storm over
o. On the seventh day in its course was
., Gained The, stSEm NJ; and all the deluge
o. quieted The sea he caused u dry and the
wind and delrge ended.
% and the whole of mankind turned to cor
ruption:
e E opened S the 5ef w9daw and the light broke
over my face.
90 IL passed. | sat down and wept.
went and turned, and
49, a resting place It did not find, and it re-
49, I sent forth swallow and it left. The
swallow went end turned, and
Al resting Dlacn IL did not find. and IL re-
A. 1 sent forth a raven and it left.
49, The raven went, and the decrease OF the
A. i, did water esi i saw awan ana and wandered away
and did not return.
45. l sent the animals forth to the four winds
.s ,l poured 1t out i lib ton o. the noun
tain. - IS
Suppose then, that the book of Genesis
TO the time of, Moses. long prior to the
time when Genesis was written: is there
anything in the Bible inconsistent with this
nology of, of your Bibles which is not bib
lical: even if you suppose that Genesis was
written by Moses. th9n $50 or 200 years
ELAPSED between the time of Joseph and
the time of Moses; four centuries between
the time of Abraham and the time of Mo
ses. ard I know not. how many centuries
between the time of the deluge and the
book of Genesis: lfow I'D he get the facts
respecting creation? abraham? Joseph
we we T to sun5 S ti1Sn. That God revealed
them TO him.? He does not say so. No
body says so for Him in the Bible, No
vealed to him his storyf and it is safe for
us who believe in the Bible to claim moth
ing for it that'if does not claim for itself.
WAS MOSES a COMPILER?
What more natural to- suppose. when we
find these legends embodied in the old sto-
ries of other literatdres. when, we find the
book OF Genesis itself made uD of stories.
which we can separate IN their interweav-
ing, when we find Mosesihimself not claim
ing they were revealed. and no one claim
ing 1t for him in the Bible-what more nat
ural to suppose than that he. as historian
assuming that he wrote the book. search
ing to know the, truth. gathered these old
legends and reWrote them with new pur-
pose? For the significant thing about the
book of Genesis is that ii is not merely
collection of legends but u collection of
legends rewritten. 1t IS an epic history.
but it is an epic history for the purpose
haps you noticed in the story of the AS
syrian tablet that the deluge overfiowed
the heavens and the gods lied like droveS
of frightened dogs from the waters into
the heaven of Anu to escape it. Do you
not see the difference between this story
in Genesis, which represents the deiuge
story o. the old ASsyrian tablet which rep
resents ii as frightening the gods? 1t is
not the question what territory was over
of f% every Kind Vert into the ark, or two
of one kind and seven or another. All that
is of no consequence. But whether the
great cataclysms of earth are masters and
God Himself is terrified before them, or
whether God Is master and the cataclysms
Themselves under His control That is
question whose answer you ana i want to
know to-day, as much as men ever wanted
to know it. and that is found in the re-
written record of the deluge. Let me read
you one of the old cosmogonies. 1t Is from
Hesiod's ''Theogony"-his account of the
creation:
Hail, daughters Of Jove. and give the lovely
ever existing. who sprang from earth and starry
heaven, and murky night, whom the brtny deep
nourished. Say. TOO, how at the first the gods
and earth were born. and rivers and boundless
deep. rushing with swollen stream, and shining
stars. and the broad heaven above; and the gods.
who were sprung from these.
In truth. then foremost sprang chaos. and
next broad bosomed earth. secure seat of all
the immortals, who inhabit the peak of snow
capped Olympus. and dark. dim Tartarus, in a
recess OF earth having broad ways. and Love.
who is most beautiful among immortal gods.
Love. that rclaXes the limbs and In the heart
of all gods and all men subdues their reason
and prudent council. But from chaos was born
earth and black night; and from night again
sprang from Ether and Day, whom she bare,
after having conceived by union with Erebus in
herself Gin size). starry heaven that he might
a secure seat for the blessed gods.
TEACHINGS or GENESIS.
Do you not see the difference? 1t is not
a question whether the world was made in
six literal days of twenty-four hours each
or six great periods. 1t is not the question
whether the world was made in one order
or another order. What difference does
that make to US? II is interesting, but not
iEportaht- but here you have two cos