Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-01-04

4
the year 700, b. c.. are all more or
less uncertain. and that chronology is
| anything but an exact science. 10 IL
| hIstratc. A number OF dates depend
upon the date of a battle that was
fought between Mcdcs and Lydians,
and this date, II was thought, could be
determined by the fact that II was
interrupted by a total eclipse oil inc
sun. But astronomers have found sew
cral dates that might answer that re-
quIremcnt, ranging from 625 TO oeS
B. C. Bible history shares with All
ancient history this uncertainty OF
dates. and this is one proof Of It's
antiquity.
The geneaIogy from Adam
TO Noah has come down to us through
three channels, the Hebrew Scriptures
the Samaritan text, which Is supposed
to embody tho Hebrew text as Il exist
cd 4s0 B. c., and the SeptuaSint trans
lation which was begun. 1t Is sup
posed, 2s5 B. C. The three an
fer materially. the Hebrew giving
as 1t appears. 1856 years, the sa-
marltan 1907, and the Septuasint'
2,242 years. Neither of these periods
are regarded az historically accurate'
though either OF them Is sufiicient ior
the establishment Of the particular
truths. such as the unity OF the race
the providential care of God In the
preservation of religious knowledge
from generation TO generauon' e,c''
for which the gcnealogies were made
part of the original records. which
are now nowhere extant.
From the flood to Abraham the he-
brew Scriptures give only 29o years
tho Samaritan $40 and the Septuagint,
1170 years This is another dscrep-
ancy. And there are others through
out the Old Testament
1t is established, beyond doubt, that
ancient Oriental writer's did not attach
to dates the Importance that modern
history does To the ancients the oc-
currence was all-important, and they
recorded 1t as belonging to a certain
period, or a certain generation, or
certain dynasty. They knew absolute
ly nothing of our modern historical no
tation according to the calendar. This
fact accounts. partly, for the insur-
mountable difficulty of establishing
chronology from the ancient docu-
ments,
Another fact must be remembered.
Early historians often used round num-
bers Just as In modern history tine
hundred years. war" is the name OF
conflict between England and France
which lasted 116 years. from 1857 10
1.453. They used the numbers forty,
seventy, and seven in an indefinite
sense. II we read that Gideon and Ell
each held the office of judge in Israel
for 40 years. and that Saul. and David
and Solomon each rcigned 40 years, IT
is quite possible that the number
stands for long reign Instead oil Tor
an exact period of years 1t Is only
after the adoption OF the Gregorian cal
endar that historical accuracy can be 4
looked for always. Oriental writer's.
when desiring to give a data Of an oc- A
currence. said that it happened in such
year of such a king, but sometimes
anarchy reigned; or. there were con-
ficting dynasties, or co-regency of a
father and son, and then they; seem 10
have had no means of making them
selves perfectly clear to later genera
tions. This is the source OF, another
difficulty.
1t is also a fact that later transcrib-
ers, though conscientious in the preser-
walton of the law. were less scrupulous
in their handling of dates and figures.
They sometimes changed them. perhaps
to make them easier to remember.
For these reasons we must conclude
that an absolute correct chronology
cannot be established by the dates re-
corded We must conclude, further. that
whatever the facts may be as regards
the age of man upon earth, there is
no discrepancy between science and the
Scriptures. Truth Is truth wherever and
however II Is revealed. and no Bible
olQuCnl hCCoS " lNJcCN u ldCl CSldO-
lished by science. or course. scientists
sometimes announce their own conclu-
sions as infallible. and In this they err.
Sometimes they arc compelled to
change views. But facts really proved
must be accepted and can be accepted
without fear.
1t should be mentioned here that
some Bible students strongly incline to
the view that the earth was the habita-
ton of a pre-Adamic race, the re-
mains OF which are found occasionally
In the deeper strata. They hold that
the account OF the creation in Genesis
Is a brief record of the fact that the
earth was made desolate and empty,
and then reconstructed for the new
race of which Adam was the first. They
hold that, In all probability, the Re-
phalm and Zamzummin, and the Emim,
mentioned In Genesis and Deuteron-
omy, may have been living remnants
OF that pre-Adamic race. II there is
any ground for this theory. il Is to
be expected that evidences OF the ex-
istence OF such a race and a primitive
civilization should be found from time
to time The Scriptures. on this theo-
ry. only give us brief and in some
respects fragmentary. history of the
Adamic race. but this history Is ner-
feet and complete as illustrating and
leading up to the central fact In the
history OF the human family-the reye-
lation of Gods plan of salvation.