The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-11-30
SIS What ION
/ ----W DR.. WILL DlJRAMT

T]HE Bible remains the greatest of
books, the richest in wisdom
land beauty, as unsurpassed in the
nrose of Isaiah as it is in the
poetrv Of the Psalms; but it is diff
cult to tell in the early books where
poetry ends and the history begins.
The story of the creation was
common to the peoples of western
Asia long before it was set down in
eGenesis. We find it among the
Babylonians, the Chaldeans, the
Phoenicians and the Persians.
Having gathered together the leg
ends of the people, the priests, did
better. and codif1ed the moral ideals
of the race into the Mosaic Law"
Their prescriptions aimed chiefly
at the moral and physical improve
naent of the nation; but they did not
neglect to provide rules for the
greater power of the clergy.
Alien gods were banned, ). and
Korah, Dathan and Abiram were
offered as examples encouraging the
people to piety and obedience.
For every sin severe penalties
were decreed-shekels Il. e., pounds
Of silver. calves, rams and various
anuetizing animals were to be
brought in atonement to the temple.
The priests had good taste and
better appetite.
Yet the dietetic advice was OF high
order. The Jews, as recently no
\ MAIDS, were heavy eaters Of meat;
as flesh food was particularly
susceptible to infection and decay
in the intense heat Of the Near
East, care was indispensable; hence
in the Mosaic" code cleanliness is
next to goodness.
Even today, when eating has be-
come a public rather than do
nestle function, to the ruination
of the ancient law, those wise re-
strictions have helped to give the
Jews an endurance and a vitality
far beyond the human average.
y y =
A IL in all, the Mosaic code,
N though it shared in the SUI
perstitions and barbarity of its
times, was the greatest single con-
4 tribution that had yet been made
to the civilizing of mankind.
! It is true that it agreed with Ma
poleon about polygamy; that it
clasSed women with cattle at time
when in Egypt and Bobylon they
had attained to comparative free
dom and culture, and that the con-
ception of morality which governed
it was still narrowly tribal view,
aiming to solidify a small group
against the world.
But it exalted honor, fiilial piety,
loyalty and truth; it expressed bet
ter than ever before the moral re-
quirementS Of civilized society.
It urged mercy to slaves and rec
commended that seven years of serv-
ice should always bring emanci-
patton. In the institution of the
jubilee year, designed to effect a
periodical redistribution of the land,
there is an almost Socialistic touch:
- ! IlG ldIlQ OIldll 41O0 NC OO40 1OA :
ever, for the land is mine. !. And
We shall hallow the fiftieth year
and proclaim liberty throughout all
the land, unto all the inhabitants
thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto
you; and We shall return every man
unto his possession, and We shall
return every man unto his family.
Nev. xiv, 1929. Here is the voice
of the prophets, heard in the Tenn
pie itself.
The Temple brought into the re-
ligion of the Jews Capitalization
Of power that reflected the CONSOLE
dalton of the monarchy.
Though it could not have accom-
modated Solomon's wives, it was
enough to require heavy taxation of
the middle classes and severe labor
from the manual workers of Jeru-
salem.
BY the time it was complete the
gap between the poor and rich had