The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-03

being TINT n WA metaphorical, &cL-but all
agree that the Son OF Man will come In the
clouds finally. Well. then, suppose that at any
time. tomorrow. for example. the Saviour
should suddenly appear In New YORK,
and some three hundred millions OF souls
In their natural body and composed OF
tho cave dweller and civilized man. from
the four quarters Of the globe. at tho blast OF
n trumpet" should assemble The books are
then opened and the goats" are banisbed
Into outer darkness" while the sheep" arc
placed on the right hand OF God Now. honestly
and truly. how many OF US laymen ana OF our
dvines twho generally. are men OF culture
and logical minds) believe this actually and
literally to DO truo7 I. for one do not believe
II nor. nm fan TO think. In their inmost
hearts. do they.
Let me not be put down as a "scoffer." for
sneak in no fliprant eprlt. and by that term Ia
meant one who SCOTS. and sneers. ana jeers at
religion In general and at the faith OF all good
Christian men. Far from IL. But does the
above from common-senso standpoint appear
reasonable7 Let us all land mean by AL"
| the deeply-in-e earnest correspondents OF THE
SuSl In q thoroughly reverent spirit consider
this. WILLIAM l.. STONE.
MOUNT VERNON. Nov ~.
| Mr.. Pnnin's System OF scvensv Disputed.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE suH-Sir: Your
correspondent Ivan Pann." with his numer-
| icnl values Of Greek letters and mystlcal COM
| binatons OF seven. Ia q distinct failure rs q
'veritnbe champion OF orthodoxy" He mp
penrs to be entirely ignorant 81 the fact that
Matthew's gospel. to which most OF his letter
! refers. was not originally written In Greek. hut
In Aramnlc. tho vernacu ar OF the jews OF Pales-
| tine. Nobody knows who was tho author Of
| tho Greek Version. II has long been a subject
! Of dispute among theologians. We learn from
| Papias and Irenmus that Matthew wrote the
| 'logia." or savings. OF Christ IN tho language
| OF the Hebrews: but how much may have been
! subsequently nddcd 1t ia impossible to say.
/ since tho original Ia lost. One worry ancient
| Aramnic version OF Matthew. discovered by
| Mrs. Lewis In st. Katharlne's Convent on
J Mount Sinai. represents Christ ns the natural
! con OF Joseph.
! So conservative n scholar az Professor Green
! Of Princeton. pointed out long ngo In the
! Bbiiotheca Sdcra. that the groupings OF four
! teen In Matthews's Eenealogy are entirely arti-
fcinl. and that IN or ter to bring about the
! desired result. the author was obliged to omit
several names. For example. In the eighth verse
| OF the first chapter we are told that "Joram
/! bogat Ozlas iUzzinhL" The fact IL. UZziah
was the son OF Amazlah, who was the son
! az Ahaziah. who was the son OF Joram that is.
Joran 'boRat" his great era dson. Similarly.
In tho eleventh verse It Is sad that "Josias
/ beEat Jechonlas" The con- lete fact Ia.
I Jrch ,nias WA tho scn OF Jehoiakim. who was
tn" son Of Josiah. that 10. Josias "begat" his
grands
In view OF the above illustrations. what be-
comes Of ivan Panin's' ombinations OF
? seven?
"Pomen Laon." another corresp ondent OF
THE SUS. enheavorin2 to reconcile early
Scriptural records with modern scientific con-
illusions. sage that the Bible does not AZ the
time at which the frst man was created" II
will Se seen. nevertheless. that. In addition 10
the chronological data furn shed by tho ifth
aud eleventh chapters OF Genesis there are
other p1asagos tmDrn especially Genesis, xv.,
10; Exodus. xii. 10, by which We can estimate
the exact nunbrr NJ years elsrsine between
the creation OF Adam aud III" Exodus, the Rab-
hinlcal date Of which Is II. G. 1914. Therefore.
according to the Hebrew version OF the Bible.
man ia less than 1900 years old.
Prof SGycc Of OXFORD. tsee the second chap
ter Of his Verdict ~ the Monuments"D and
many other eminent Assyrioogl SITS have shown
conclusively that almost everything In the
early charters of Genesis THE Creation. the
Fail. Bab'l and the Food Is based unon Baby
lonian mythology The very word Adam" Is
the common BAhylonan term for man"
Now. II III. story OF the Fall IL pagan legend
aud dcmonstrably untrue. what becomes oil
Pauline theology and the whole elaborate SUI
perstructuro Of Christian dogmatism1
NEW YoRR. Nov. 20. LEcron