The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-02
VIEWS OF THE BIBLE
NOT TAKEN FROM HEATHEN.
Doctor Samuel Sale Com ba t. the Opin-
ion of Friedrich DeIitx.ch. the
German Scholar.

Doctor Samuel Sale delivered an addres
Emeth. In which he vigorously combate'
the position taken by Friedrich Delitzsch
German scholar. who in a recent lectur
sought to show that the views Of the Bib
on certain subjects we=e sprung from
Babylonian source. He said. in part:
The religious world has lately beef
stirred to its center by certain extravasan
statements OF Friedrich Delitzsch. one o
Germany's most noted Assyriologists.
Under the auspices OF the German ORR
entail Society, and. as 1t seems encourage
by the special request and protection Of III
German Emperor Delitzsch delivered tw,
lectures. in which he undertook to shcv
that the chief elements of culture in thu
from Babylonian source. To this origin
the learned Orientalist seeks to trace no
only the views of the Bible on creation II,
fall of man, the flood. the state of man be
and devil, together with goodiy portion o.
Its Sacerdotal and Sacrificial ordinances
but even the Jewish Sabbath, and. what !.
worship of God Dahve).
Until row the belief has obtained tina
ethical monotheism. together with the sub
the contribution of the Jews through thetl
prophets to the civilization OF mankind
This was the one claim to recognition which
even the dearest foes of the Jews were
forced to concede. and now comes this sor
or one of the most DiOus. most Christian
and estimable scholars OF Germany and un-
dertakes to strip the Jews of even theil
last title to creative genius and originality
and rob their Bible OF that peculiar, tram
scendent value which, until now. all the
world in its delusion has accorded to It,
jubilant over the fact that they had
ceptins the widest assertions Of
R Deli Oh. as proof as strong as Holy
Bible was not worthy Of further considera-
tion as source Of religious instruction and
inspiration. These outbursts of anti-Semitic
venom, taken together with Delitzsch's own
counsel to Christianity to turn its back
upon the Old Testament, have forced the
German Emperor to the front in his new
role as theologian.
We are not here to discuss the religious
views of William II. but We simply de-
duce from the fact that his Majesty finds
It ~ p s ss bS
his own orthodoxy: the inference that the
people over whom he rules u not prepared
to follow the advice Of the fatuous sAssyri-
ofogist and throw tee Bible overheard. .
Now, let us come to the contentious Of
the scholar. The cosmogony or views of
the ancient Babylonians on the creation of
tablets which George Smith discovered In
1873 on the site of ancient Nineveh, in the
library of Assurbanipal. and which he first
gave to the world. decphered in his Chal-
This document Is credibly supposed to 20
back nearly 1900 years before the Chris
tian era. Nearly every ancient nation had
Its mythical traditions about the origin of
the world. and it were strange indeed II
there were not some points of resemblance
between them and the biblical account.
Of nations which trace the origin Of their
culture and civilization to the plains Of
Mesopotamia, and 1t is. therefore. but nat
n hox foIr xrvt$ :,
them much Of that which was the common
property Of the original household and
which. as the Bible shows. they utilized in
'It Is presumed upon good grounds that
the Israelites emerged into the light Of his
tory as separate and distinct national
era-ons of the youngest Of the ancient peo-
Piles. but nothing Is more certain than that
when they did thus come upon the stage OF
history. they were peculiar people: With
them of from all antiquity.
This distinctnese of their religious life
and thinking Is clearly indicated In the bib
lical account Of the origin of the world,
which Delitssch maintains was borrowed
from the Assyrians. In the Assyrian mar
rative we have the whole pandemonium OF
idolatry, and between 1t and the Bible there
is a yawning chasm that cannot be bridged.
In the first chapter Of Genesis there IL not
left a trace Of the sprites and spooks. the
strife and contentious Of the many gods
Lul,mu and Lahamu, Anschar and Kischar.
and Anu and Marduk-all Of whom were
themselves created out Of The mingling of
As We go from the reading of one to the
other we seem to have escaped from the
rawlings Of a mailman into the presence and
converse of one whose every word bespeaks
the mind that Is sound and clear and &C.
rene.
From the proofs of the creative re-
ligious genius which the clay tablets of
world will not easily turn. away from that
book. upon whose first page 10 written in
beauty and simplicity the purpose
chaos and confusion reigned supreme and
darkness covered the deep, the creative
word was heard. Let there be light And
realm, out of chaos came cosmos. a world
Of order and beauty out of the dreary
waste and darkness.
in its statement Of facts, which facts It
shares with almost all old cosmogomies.
yet the truths which 1t sets forth are such
prove, and which are as important to US as
when they first dawned in the soul Of the
prophet.
trary of our faith Is written in characters
which cannot be effaced the truth which
has been the hope and stay Of the human
spiration: it Is the Y truth that there is a
central light in the universe a power which
has wrought the order and harmony Of this
WOflQ OF matter, tu3t WOIkS IN human llB-
tory with wisdom and purpcsive intelli-
gence and has shed abroad In the human
heart the creative spark which shall some
day make aglow this mundane sphere with
the warmth and light Of Justice. truth and
owing kindness. This message Of gladness
does not come from Assyria, but from
Judea-
"As far as we know, the Babylonian-As-
syrian religion. from the monuments SO far
1eciphered, had and retained unto the end
III the earmarks Of the grossest polytheism.
rhe cuneiform literature reveals world of
lobgoblins and demons. honeycombed with
aninism and intimately related with all
Of witchcraft. magic and eorcery.
70 suppose that the people who lived under
his terrifying belief had ever risen to an
all-pervading and sublime faith in one God
8 to conceive the impossible. OF course,
here were degrees among the gods of As
syria and from time to time one was en-
hroned above the others.
THAT there is . strong resemblance in
much of the institutionalism Of the Assy-
.ians and the Israelites and that 1t must
De so, no one with grain Of historical
,ense would undertake to deny.
1T Is not question as to what materials
we're common to the Jews and other ma
ions but what was made Of that common
Inheritance when II came into contact with
he unique conception Of God and the
'ublime religious ideals which held sway
n Israel
shakespeare furnishes us an exactly
parallel case. There is not one of his plays
or which he did not use materials which
we're ready to his hands, either In the