Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-08-30
new BOOK SAYS
MYTHS IN Bible
finds n FULL Of FIX LORE


ben Issued from The University ii
chiraxc Press which IL likely 10 meet
Win sharp criticism from eiergymer
and others Who hold me old fashioned
ssi'h In the trnshfulnsss ~ veil a
The desine inspiration ~ the Bible. ls
n a series ~ inserprsiatiye studies oi
he literature ~ Israel sniilled lie
brew Life and Thought" The autho-
IL Louise Seymour Hongnton. who ey.
identity has given much study 10 the
Bible In the original text. Among oth-
81 things the book declares:
That the story of the creation of
the world In SIX days II foik iore and
the Sis days were literally six periods
a time tv~enty-foar hours eaea.
That serious mention Is made I'm the
Old Testament. even by Jehovah him.
self. Of animals which never existed
outside Of mythology.
That the story OF the sun standing
sim dnrinE Jozhnats hattie In merely
poetry. That the sun did no. stand stiil
that b. the earth did not cease TO
rotate.
That the story Of q fountain, gush.
Ing out of the iawbone Of an as. with
which Samson slew tho phiiistines, In
a mistake. caused by the ~transiators
not perceiying o Hebrew pun.
That numerous fables and myths
are found I'm the Old Testament.
And yet that the Old Testament Is
diyinely inspired.
Bible Contains Genuine MYTH
Although the book is written In rey.
erentiai style and declares firm belief
In the inspiration of the scriptures,
the author asserts that the Bible con.
tains many myths, numerous historic.
al a~naehronisms. much folk lore Of
the Jack the Giant Killer order, "a
well as serious mention Of fabulous
animals.
THAT there are genuine myths I'm
the Old Testament IL certain" she
says. though all Of them are used In
n spiritual way. Mythical animals play
n larger part there than English
TRANSACTIONS permit u TO recognize.
though not 80 large as IN most mytho.
logical systems. The ieyiathian lion
KILL: ps. civ:26) the dragon tAmos
ix:3. the serpent In properly translat.
I'd the dragon and II In Jehovah him.
self who IL speaking. So ps, ixxiv:i3.
u: lisa. xviii. ete.1. the phoenix
dob xxx, rs. revised version mar.
ginl. the night bag lisa. xxiv. n. re.
vision versionl. the satyr lisa. xiii:
2i). none Of which ever existed out Of
NEUROLOGICAL. are all there. and all are
treated seriously.
Creation story In Poetry
In order To harmonic Genesis geoi
ogy most modern tneologians inter.
pref the six days mentioned In Gene
sis and various other places In the
Bible an the period time required to
create the world 10 meat six long p0
RODS Of time or aeons. But this book
says:
II the first chapter Of Genesis IL
not mythology. neither Is Il science
W. have gone beyond the time wbea
II IL even thinkable that the world
was made In six days. aud happily we
have come to the time when we begin
10 see that 10 interpret the word day
f~iguratively as period or aeon OF
anything else than day so long as
We interpret literally all the q n Of
the passages In which the word
stands, is a dishonest juggling with
words. There can be no question that
the writer OF this chapter meant by
day a period Of twenty o hours
The fact Of a Sabbath divinely ordain'
ed at this time In an %irrefutable wit
ness against the other Interpretation,
since II Is based upon the assumption
that the six days, a. well rs the sew.
enth. were literal days.
But If neither myth nor science"
she goes on, what Is this description?
II is poetry: an epic Of creation. cast
In the same mold as the great Assyro'