Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1901-09-13
IS BIBLE HISTORY TRuEa
Reliability of the Statements OF Our
sacred BOOka.

In his lecture on ",rhe Historical As
pect of the Bible Professor Gigot in his
book, THE Bible as a Literature" says:
I'VE now come to the chief point Of
the present lecture-to wit, the truthful
characer of the history contained in our
sacred writings Are the historical state
ments Of the Bible truly reliable? This
is the great question of the day, as it has
been, indeed, for many years, both with
in and withOut-mOre especially without
the pale of the Catholic church.
This question is one Of great difficulty
and complexity, and we cannot under
take here anything like a detailed study
of it.
1--WE shall therefore confne ourselves
to few general remarks going for to-
ward proving the full reliability Of the
historical statements of our sacred books
and suggesting to Christian believers
grounds to satisfy every one that asketh
them a reason of the hope which is in
Them
1.-THE first reason to believe in the
| truthful character of the sacred writer's
! is their obvious candor Their manifest
/ tone Of sincerity in recording events is
never surpassed, if ever equaled, by that
| of any trustworthy historian.
''Thus they record not only the glorious
deeds Of their nation in peace and war,
but also its military reverses, its repeated
falls into idolatry together with their
most shameful consequences, its inter-
nal political and religious divisions, etc.
"In like manner the mistakes, faults
and even heinous crimes of its greatest
heroes, princes, chief priests, etc, are
stated with wonderful simplicity.
"a second proof of the truthful char
acter Of the history contained in the
Bible may be drawn from a comparison
between the several accounts Of the same
fact found therein. However strange thi!
may appear at first sight, it is neverthe
less beyond question that the moral GER
tainty which belongs to history is reach
ed all the more securely when the sew
eral accounts Of the same event, while il
substantial agreement, are found to var!
as regards the details recorded.
at is but seldom, for instance, that WI
feel sure of the occurrence Of an i'm
pOrtant fact when we hear OF it through
only one dispatch. On the contrary, W,
naturally consider as reliable the new
given by several different correspondent
with differences as to wording, particu
lars stated, arrangement Of details, etc
because all such variations bespeak in
= dependent sources Of information.
"The last and by far the strongest evi
dence for the truthful character Of tn
history contained in the Bible is derive
from the accounts Of eastern traveller
and data of modern discoveries.
"Whoever has, on the one hand, care
} fully noted the principal narratives Q
= journeys made through the east and +,
cent discoveries of ruins, cylinders, il
scriptions, monuments. records of variOU
kinds, etc, in Bible lands aad has on Ii
other, endeavOred to realize their bearin
s on our sacred history will readily an
fully indOrse the following words
Henry A. Harper at the beginning Of Ia
Y work, entitled From Abraham to d.
4 vid.'
Il 1.-The author is firmly convinced thu
e the more the lands of the Bible and Il
customs of the east are studied and III
derstood the fuller will be the light thu
is thrown on the brief statements in Il
. Bible and the more those statements vi
h be found to be accurate to the last d
t gree. New York Journal.