The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-01-17
STORY OF THE BILE.
HOW IT WAS COMPILED. PRESERVED
AND BROUGHT DOWN.

New discoveries about the Bible are
being made almost daily. The religious
world is startled every now and then
by the announcement that some old |
manuscript has been found or some clay |
tablet corroborating Biblical history has
been deciphored. The last few years !
have been especially notable for remark |
able finds, not the least of which has
been single leaf of papyrus bearing "A
few sayings of Jesus--logia, as they
have been called. These discoveries
arouse "A questioning frame of mind
We ask, now did we get the Bible,
whence did it come, what was the
method Of its transmission to us?
Learned volumes have been written, but
only scholars read them. One of the
latest Of these is by DR.. William a.
Coppinger, bat it is so expensive vol
ume-only 100 copies have been printed
for sale-that few can read it, even if
they would. The much talked of poly
chrome Bible. edited by leading Biblical
scholars of the world, is an answer to
this demand. Still, the question, how
did the Bible come down to us? ought
to be answered briefly, SO that the mass
es Of the people can read and under
stand. 1t is irreverent to the Bible and
the inspired men who gave us this
world classic-the classic-dealing with
the eternal theme of the relation be-
tween man and God to think of 1t as
ready made volume, dropped down nom
heaven bound and gilt edged.
The Bible was born in the little land
Of Canaan as the weary caravan, led by
Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees,
pitched its tents and the patriarch wrote
down the promises of the Eternal on
the palm leaves which he found at hand.
This was more than 1000 years ago.
and that writing was i'll use SO early is
proved by Inscriptions found on Egyp-
tian steles or Assyrian tablets from
6, 900 to s, 600 years old.
The records kept by Abraham and
! his immediate descendants undoubtedly
! formed the basis of the book Of Genesis
and the earlier chapters of Exodus, TO
be later utilized by the hand of Moses
and his successors. With the advent of
this great legislator Of the Hebrews the
nation was formed, with his legislation
as its heart and center. It is probable
that Moses wrote his portion Of the BIZ
bic upon tho linen used for such pur-
poses in Egypt, for many large pieces
of this linen covered with hieroglyphio
writing have come down to us wrapped
around mummies The inscriptions are
still legible The PentateUch was the
nucleus of OFT Bible, tho only Bible
known Co tho Hebrews for many gener-
atoms. 1t was written in the ancient
Ibri character, closely resembling the
/ Phoniciau, IS proved by the Sloan in
scription discovered near Jerusalem and
some ancient coins which have been
found. Leaders like Joshua, Gideon and
| Samuel were needed in the promised
! land. Singers and prophets, too, arose,
and the scribcs Of the leaders recorded
what was done. The poets wrote down
their best songs. The prophets words
were treasured up by their disciples and
3D.. followers The official records were kept
in the national archives, and the songs
of the poets and the speeches Of the
prophets were passed from hand tc
hand. When the kingdom was divided,
records were certainly kept both IN the
southern kingdom Of Judah and the
northern kingdom Of Israel. But mrcll
of tho earlier literature was forgotten
in the catastrophe of the destruction OF
the kingdoms Of Israel and Judah, ano
the exiles refused to sing the songs OF
Zion as they "sat by the waters OF Ba'
bel and went" When at last the term
Of exile was over and some OF the more
devoted Jews returned to rebuild the
walls and temple of Jerusalem, the law
had to be brought back to them.
! Ezra was the I.an for this work, anc
; he and his coadjutors, the elders, col
lected the scattered records of earlier
} DAYS ami made the first canon OF the
Pentateuch They wrote it in new
script-Kethav Ashuris, the Assyriar
or square character brought back from
BABYLON with them and read anC
+ taught it to the people. By this time
: some of the speeches delivered by the
prophets of the exile, the second Isaiah
: and his disciples, had become so dear tt
3 the hearts of the people that they were
, esteemed as classics. Some had preserv
: ed the addresses of the earlier prophets
and gradually second set of accepted
. writings was added to the law. The
: older songs, too were found again, ant
! new singers were inspired for the serv
. ice of the new temple, and the book q
Psalms became its hymnbook.
The proverbs of the nation were col
lected by various hands Other book
were found or written as late as the sec
ond century before the Christian era
j.. The book of Daniel, for instance, wa
' composed to inspire a people, faintlnt
|, under Syrian oppression, for the Macca
bean revolution. And all this later lit
erature was struggling for acceptanc
= into the Bible until the canon of tin
5 Old Testament as we now have it wa
established in the first century of on
era by TIC rabbinical school of Palestine
AS the nation Israel sunk under tn
, waves Of Roman conquest the Jewisl
> shirt held the Old Testament aloft q