Barre evening enterprise. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-1898, 1898-05-12

INT New discoveries about the Bible n
ITS ielns made almost daily. The religio,
w world is startled every now and the
- ny the announcement that some oil
as manuscript has been found or some ella
tablet corroborating Biblical history ba
= been deciphered. The last few yea,
n nave been especially notable for remarl,
able finds, not the least of which ha
Deeh single leaf of papyrus bearing
lew sayings OF Jesus-logia, as the,
have been called. These discoverie
l. arouse questioning frame of mind
we ask, how did we get the Bible
whence did it come, what was the
: method OF its transmission to us
! Learned volumes have been written. but
f only scholars read them. One of the
. latest OF these is by DIR. William A.
Copplnger but it is so expensive a vol
uh-only $50 copies have been printed
: for salc-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
TINS demand. Still, the question, how
dld 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 it as a
ready made volume dropped down from
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.
Inns was more than 1000 years ago.
and that writing was in use SO early is
proved by inscriptions found Oh Egyp-
tan stoles or Assyrian tablets from
5000 to s, 600 years old.
The records kept by Abraham and
ms Immediate descendants undoubtedly
formed the basis of the book of Genesis
and the earlier chapters of Exodus. to
De later utilized by the hand of Moses
ana his successors. With the advent of
ms great legislator of the Hebrews the
latlon was formed, with his legislation
IS Its heart and center. 1t is probable
nat Moses wrote his portion of the BIZ
ne upon the linen used for such pur-
'oses III Egypt, for many large pieces
thls linen covered with hieroglyphic
writing have come down to us wrapned
round mummies. The inscriptions are {
till legible. The Pentateuch was thc s
ucleus of our Bible, tho only Bible
nown to the Hebrews for many gener.
IONS 1t was written in the ancient '
III character, closely resembling the c
honlclan, as proved by the Sloan in h
rlptlon discovered near Jerusalem and c.
me ancient coins which have been S.
und. Leaders like Joshua Gideon and fl
'muel were needed in the promised b
nd. Singers and prophets, too arose. k
ld the scribes of the leaders recorded I'll
nat was done. The poets wrote down "
elr best songs. The prophets words b]
ere treasured up by their disciples and NJ
flowers, The official records were kept ca
the national archives, and the songs G;
the poets and the speeches of the or
ophets We're passed from hand to re
nd. When the kingdom was divided ne
ords were certainly kept both in the wi
lthern Kingdom of Judah and the no
'thern kingdom of Israel But much no
inc earlier literature was forgotten ku
the catastrophe of the destruction Of
Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. and WA
TDfI1pn1 To
NAiiI' luoeu 10 sing the songs of wa
II as they "sat by the waters of Ba- an
and wcpt." When at last the term in
exile was over and some of the moro an,
oted Jews returned to rebuild tho fou
Is and temple of Jerusalem, the law "
to be brought back to them. Tw
IRA was the man for this work. and " Z
ana his coadjutors, the elders. col. mi,
ed the scattered records of earlier "
an made the first canon of the the
tateuch. They wrote it in new snir
Ashuris, the Assyrian be- ,
square character brought back from the
ylon with them - and read and nara
mt 1t to the people. BY this time FISH
OF the speeches delivered nv tbe itv
hets of the exile, the second Isaiah brai
his disciples, had become SO dear to aliy,
hearts of the people that thew were bull,
med as classics. Some had presery- the ,
e addresses of the earlier prophets. of fl
second set of accented terio
nSs was added to the law. The In il
songs, too, were found again, and amor
singers were inspired for the serv. time
the new temple, and the book of destr
is became it's hymnbook. sense
g proverbs Of the nation were col. "N
l by various hands. Other books TRACE
found or written as late as the sec. sever
century before the Christian era was
book OF Daniel, for instance. was McDc
'sed to inspire people, faintine surge
syrian oppression, for the Macca. the h,
'eVolutlon. And all this later lit dav fl
9 was struggling for acceptance mept
40 Bible until the canon of the ments
testament as we now have it was rel M
lshed in the first century of our bullet
the rabbinical school of Palestine. the M
nation Israel sunk under the etrati,
OF Roman conquest the Jewish hours
held the Old Testament aloft as Ton 7,
to the world.-Clifton Hardy man o,
II Review of Reviews. finn =
pa.,, lnjurie
D,,, tors US