The veracity of the book of Genesis, with the life and character of the inspired historian

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LIFE {

Preface

The Scriptures of the Old Testament have long been the favourite ground of attack with the opponents of revelation. Those who would engage in its defence must therefore necessarily occupy the same ground, and not too securely reckon on the safety of the citadel while they suffer the outposts to be taken with indifference. It has indeed been maintained, that a pure and spiritual religion can have nothing to do with remnants of Judaism, nor the faith of Christ need any support from preceding and less perfect dispensations* Nay, with some even orthodox writers the disposition has been manifested to disclaim for the Christian faith in its essential characteristics any necessary dependence on the former covenant, and to assert for it a sufficiency of evidence within its own immediate and peculiar sphere. The prophecies themselves, whose remarkable fulfilment has ever been accounted one

A 4 vi Preface.

great leading evidence for the truth of our holy religion, existed, these writers remind us, not in the sacred volume alone, but currently among the whole Jewish people, and partially also amongst the Gentile nations of the world. " I do not see/' says a late learned writer of our own Church, " how it would injure any part of the argument on which our belief of Christianity is properly founded, if the historical books of the Old Testament had not been handed down to us at all. It is the adversary of Christianity who commonly appeals to the Old Testament, that being the side on which he deems the proof of revelation to be weakest." And. he endorses the saying of Paley, that " We ought not to make Christianity answer with its life for every fact recorded in the Old Testament." l

At the same time, it may appear to many minds impossible practically to separate either the prophetic from the historical parts, or the entire books of the Old Testament from those of the New. So long as they are bound up in one volume, and that volume is in every one's hands in its present form, it is difficult to see how any other impression can be popularly entertained, but such as shall associate the two Testaments in necessary connection, so that whatever shakes the credit of the one must in

1 Dean Lyall, Preparation of Prophecy, ch. viii. Rivmgton, 1854.

Preface. vii

some measure weaken the authority of the other. There is, besides, in the history of the Old Testament such a variety of topics, and so large a collection of facts, coming in contact at every turn with the common events of history, and therefore obviously challenging comparison with those events, and leading to a variety of criticism from every quarter; that to shun that criticism, and hide our eyes from the light of any fresh discoveries, would imply either unpardonable indolence, or a defective appreciation of the strength of those arguments on which the inspiration of the Scripture rests. When we think of the great strides which science is every day making, the many discoveries of modern travel and research, to say nothing of the advantage accruing from the possession and collation of so many new manuscripts and ancient versions of the Scriptures, it is among the first duties of the Christian philosopher to bring his faith to the test of these discoveries, and to seek a fair adjustment of any differences which in the course of argument and the conflict of opinion may chance to arise. It has often proved — and who can tell how often it may prove again? — that persevering industry and advancing science have been of excellent use in clearing up Scripture difficulties, and bringing out the meaning of disputed passages. The readers of viii Preface.

Butler will remember a passage in Ms " Analogy •■ which greatly encourages this hope, where he says, " If ever the whole scheme of Scripture comes to be understood before the restitution of all things, and without miraculous interpositions, it must be in the same way as natural knowledge is come at : by the continuance and progress of learning and of liberty, and by particular persons attending to, comparing and pursuing, intimations scattered up and down it, which are overlooked and disregarded by the generality of the world Nor is it at all incredible that a book, which has been so long in the possession of mankind, should contain many truths as yet undiscovered. For, all the same phenomena, and the same faculties of investigation, from which such great discoveries in natural knowledge have been made in the present and last age, were equally in the possession of mankind several thousand years before. And possibly it might be intended that events, as they come to pass, should open and ascertain the meaning of several parts of Scripture." l So far then from being surprised at any new endeavour to throw light on the page of Scripture, — so far from shunning comparison with any new sources of information, — such inquiries should be rather en-

1 Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion, part. ii. chap. iii.

Preface, ix

tertained with ardour, and hailed as efficient helps to a better understanding of the sacred text.

It is at the same time to be lamented, that in the excess of critical zeal some have ventured rashly to compromise essential truths of the Christian faith, and professing by some new lights to explain the Scripture, have virtually explained it away. Some, for instance, have run into the absurdity of denying all miracles, and openly rejecting whatever in Divine revelation cannot be brought under the denomination and order of natural events. They judge of everything by a spurious idea of reason ; i.e. they measure it by their own notions of what ought to be, — by what, they think, accords with "general laws of nature," with the early " traditions of nations," or with the " religious consciousness of the individual." The earlier Kationalist came forward, it is true, in defence, as he thought, of Christianity, and not in opposition to it. It was upon the publication of " one of the most formidable attacks," as Professor Powell well calls it 1 , "which the cause of Christianity had ever sustained, under the name of the Wolfenbuttel Fragments, ascribed to Lessing (1773 — 1778)," that Paulus, Eichhorn, and other learned men of the Rationalistic school, took up

1 Order of Nature, Essay iii. § 2.

x Preface.

this new ground on the side, as they believed, of the true faith. But as they too easily joined the adversary in the denial of whatever is supernatural or miraculous, it is easy to understand, — what in fact actually happened, — that they formed but a stepping-stone for others, who, with bolder hand and greater consistency, proceeded to deny, not the miraculous parts alone, but all the chief and distinctive doctrines of Scripture — the Incarnation, for example, the Atonement, the Eesurrection, and most other articles of the Creed, and this for no better reason than because of the miraculous nature of these objects of belief, and the mere fact of their transcending the limits of human knowledge and experience. What is this, but under the name of Christianity to revive the worst errors of the avowed sceptic of the days of Hume and Yoltaire ? and with the best intentions, perhaps, of promoting the cause of truth, to make a large and fatal concession to its worst enemies? 1 It is easy to speak of the " natural " interpretations, or of the " ra-

1 We speak especially of Strauss may be spreading amongst us. It

and his followers, the " Licht- is also a fact to which we should

freunde," or " Friends of Light/' not shut our eyes, that these

as they are apt to call themselves opinions sprung originally from our

in Germany. Not that in Eng- own country in the last century,

land we can boast ourselves free and they are now returning to us

from the infection ; nor can we well with interest. Froude's Nemesis

reckon how far and how deep it of Faith ; F. J. Foxton's Popular

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XI tional," or of the " mythical ;" but as an American writer has well observed, " The natural interpretation by its unnaturalness, and the mythical by its absurdity in some instances, and by its daring im-

Christianity ; Theodore Parker's Theism, Atheism, and the Popular Theology, will supply some choice specimens. The latter writes in the following strain : — " I do not believe that there eyer was a miracle, or ever will be : every where I find law,— the constant mode of operation of the Infinite God. I do not believe in the miraculous inspiration of the Old Testament or the New Testament. I do not believe that the Old Testament was God's first word, nor the New Testament His last. The Scriptures are no finality to me. Inspiration is a perpetual fact. Prophets and apostles did not monopolise the Father. He inspires men to-day as much as heretofore. I do not believe in the miraculous origin of the Hebrew Church, or the Buddhist Church, or the Christian Church, nor the miraculous character of Jesus. I take not the Bible for my master, nor yet the Clrurch, nor even Jesus of Nazareth for my master. ... I try all things by the human faculties. "

—Theism, $c, pp. 263, 264 A particular account of the infidel writers of the last century, as well as of the principal works in answer to them, will be found in Van Mildert, Boyle Lectures for the years 1802 to 1805. See also a more recent account carried down to the present time in the late Archdeacon Hardwick's Christ and other Masters (particularly vol. i. pp. 1—40 j On thellteligious Tendencies of the present Age) ; an able review of Strauss's, Leben Jesu, in appendix to one of the essays in the collection of articles from the Edinburgh Review by Mr. Rogers, entitled Reason and Faith; Professor Powell, Order of Nature, Essay iii., On the nationalistic and other Theories of Miracles. See again, on the derivation of some modern objections across the Channel from English sources of the last century (as painfully exemplified in some of the abovenamed works), some important hints, from which we select the following : — u The objections in question are not the novelties they affect to be. It is necessary to remember this, in order to obviate an advantage which the very vagueness of much modern opposition to Christianity would obtain from the notion that some prodigious arguments have been discovered, which the intellect of a Pascal or a Butler was not comprehensive enough to anticipate, and which no Clarke or Paley would have been logician enough to refute.

We afiirm, without hesitation, that when the new advocates of xii Preface,

piety in others, both combine to drive us back to the supernatural. On that ground, and on that only, all becomes plain, consistent, and intelligible. By the other plan you may, indeed, get rid of all chronological difficulties, and of troublesome discrepancies; but you are compelled to deny the genuineness of the books, and you destroy their authority. Thus Wegscheider declares it impossible to rescue the Bible from the reproaches and scoffs of its enemies, except by the acknowledgment of mytM in the sacred writings, and the separation of their inherent meaning from their unhistoric form? De Wette, denying the possibility of miracle and of prophecy, maintains the modern origin of the Pentateuch, and especially of the book of Genesis. Strauss lays it down for an infallible criterion of myth, when a narrative is intermingled with accounts of phenomena or events of which it is either expressly stated or implied that they were produced immediately by God Himself (such as Divine apparitions, voices from heaven, and the like), or by infidelity descend from their airy found in the pages of our own

elevations, and state their objec- deists a century ago; and, as al-

tions in intelligible terms, they ready hinted, the vast majority of

are found, for the most part, what Dr. Strauss's elaborate strictures

we have represented them. .... will be found in the same sources."

Hardly an instance of discrepancy — Rogers, Reason and Faith, p.

is mentioned in the ' Wolfenbiittel 238. Fragments' which will not be

Preface. xiii

human beings possessed of supernatural powers (miracles, prophecies, &c). In short, that "a miracle is impossible, prophecy is impossible, and therefore all accounts detailing miracles are not true; they are but fables; such fables are the growth of long time in rude ages, therefore the Pentateuch must have been a collection of traditions put together many ages after the occurrence of the wonderful events which they so exaggerate ; consequently, the Pentateuch cannot be the work of Moses. Moreover, the Gospel histories also being full of marvels, could not have been the production of eyewitnesses, as is vulgarly believed." 1 Such are the bold assertions which these writers have ventured to build upon the one gratuitous assumption, That a "miraculous narrative necessarily involves some mythical origin ; " and that " mysteries must give way to reason " — to reason, that is, in their sense of the word, viz. the limited comprehension of man's finite and imperfect understanding.

In Germany, we have reason to be thankful that a purer light seems of late years to be dawning upon the spirit of the popular Theology. A new class of writers has arisen, uniting the "illumination" and deep research of their predecessors, with a

1 Hamilton on the Pentateuch, 1852.

xiv Preface,

more profound and just reverence for the inspired records. The highly esteemed names of Neander, Olshausen, Tholuck, Kurtz, Bohr, Bock, Havernick, Stier, <$fc, are the harbingers of better times and a more hopeful theology. Let England but aspire to rival at once the learning, the patient spirit, and the mutual kindly feeling of her neighbours across the channel; and she too may hope to contend successfully against the new forms of error; and to restore the Scriptures to their just place in the estimation of all sincere seekers after truth. Nor need we, in the meantime, be deaf to the voice of history, or the testimonies of experience ; we need show no disrespect to the rational conclusions of philosophical investigation, nor lag timidly behind the advancing march of the literature and science of the day. Reason may assuredly find sufficient scope for its exercise, without rudely seeking to displace Revelation ; and there is abundance in the Scriptures alone to employ the intellect without violating those mysterious doctrines of the Faith, which reason itself might fairly have anticipated in a Revelation professedly coming from the Infinite source of "Wisdom and Truth.

We can think of no better way to assist in counteracting any new attempt to revive the Scepticism of a past age, than by building up what the sceptic

Preface.

xv would destroy, — by endeavouring at least to show the futility of many objections popularly but inconsiderately entertained against the plain sense of Scripture ; and that the Mosaic record, which stands at the fountain-head of Revelation, contains nothing but what agrees well both with the reason and experience of mankind. And this design appears to comprehend the two-fold task, —

First, — Of representing plainly and correctly what is really the substance (divested, perhaps, of some mistaken associations) of the earlier portion of Genesis : and,

Secondly, — Of proving that there is nothing in it at variance either with reason (in the proper acceptation of the term), as founded on the true relation of things, or with matters of fact, as discoverable from other sources.

It will not, however, be necessary in the popular and general view of the question which is here proposed, to separate nicely in every instance between these two divisions of the subject ; but rather, as each event or doctrine comes under consideration, to endeavour as far as may be, to substantiate the credibility of the one, or to show the reasonableness of the other. This task will lead naturally to many interesting particulars of the Life of Moses, which may serve, perhaps, as a xvi Preface.

general guide and introduction to the study of the Pentateuch ;— and thence to the earliest records of profane history, and especially to the "condition of Egypt at the time of Exodus. This will be followed by a careful collation of the best accounts concerning the Dispersion and first settlement of Nations, together with something of their subsequent history. The way will then be prepared for a more attentive study, in the next place, of the clear evidences, which will be pointed out, that in the still more remote records of Creation itself, Moses wrote under no ordinary illumination, but that the account in Genesis will stand the test of even the most recent discoveries of modern times. There will be added, in conclusion, a general summary of the whole ; and the bearing of those earlier records on the principles and final establishment of Christianity will be carefully traced. Should the minds of any, into whose hands his work may fall, have been unsettled (as, doubtless, many are) by the fluctuating opinions of the day, — to such the Author trusts he may be performing no unacceptable service, when he offers them this opportunity of confirming themselves in the certainty of a few leading principles, which, taking their rise in the earlier records of Moses ? will be found to run, like sacred threads, through the whole texture of Reve-

Preface. xvii

lation. The works of Moses are indeed a mine of wealth, from which something valuable might be gathered by readers of every country and every age, of every rank and every profession. To exhaust its riches would be a work far beyond the pretensions of the writer; and would far exceed the limits of his present undertaking. He can but hope to have worked successfully some few veins which seemed to promise the best reward to his labours, and to present the most striking and salient points, for displaying the high character of the original, and its intimate and important relation to all succeeding periods in the history of mankind.

In treating the " Life and Character of Moses " himself, before his history of the world and its creation, it may be expedient to notice, as the reason for thus appearing to invert the scriptural order of subjects, that it seemed the order more agreeable to general usage, and likely to be conducive to the better understanding of the whole. Indeed the works of any Author are considered almost incomplete without his life; for the obvious reason that they mostly admit of important illustration from a previous acquaintance with the times in which he lived, and the circumstances under which he wrote.

a 2 xviii Preface.

A few words may suffice on the Geological relations of Genesis, as about to come under consideration in the course of the subject. It will be our endeavour, without pretending to any special originality of view in this department, to gather from different quarters a just idea of the present state of conflicting opinions as to the leading difficulties in this department ; and particularly as to the purport and duration of the Mosaic " days of creation." Whether the account in Genesis was properly intended to embrace the whole structure of the earth during the long periods of the deposition of the successive geological strata, — or whether the "days" are natural days, and we have only the literal account of a " six days'" preparation of the earth for the immediate habitation of man, — is perhaps the point, on which the chief interest is concentrated. In whichever way, however, this question may be determined, the believer in Kevelation need scarcely fear for the result. Upon the former supposition, we have a simple coincidence and identity between the account in Genesis, and the observations of Nature — one evidently confirming the other. Upon the latter there is no collision, and therefore no contradiction ; — since the periods must be supposed different, to which the two records, the scriptural and.

Preface. xix

the natural, principally refer. It may be added, that in the opinion of many, the same " law of creation" (as it has been termed) is observable on either view. There is the same ascending scale from the lower to the higher types of life — exemplified, upon the one hypothesis, on the smaller scale of " six " natural " days ;" — extending, upon the other, through all antecedent periods and all successive phases of the world's existence. Thus, whether we adopt the literal or the unliteral interpretation of the days, we may equally join in the persuasion that " there is now no ground for apprehension, that there will be any displacement of the established law of creation," whereby there has been " a gradual progress from the lower to the higher orders of living organisms — from the simply constructed Zoophyte, through the intermediate classes of the invertebrate Molluscs, Crustaceans, vertebrate Fishes, Reptiles, and Mammals, up to Man." 1 Nor is this the only remarkable coincidence between the two versions of the Scripture narrative. They are both of them greatly in advance of the old and now obselete theory, which in the mystic " beginning " saw only a brief preamble to the work of the six days following ; — in the deso-

1 Quoted from M'Causland, Sermons in Stones, Ed. 4.

xx Preface.

lation and " darkness/' a primitive " chaos " of confused elements; — in the "light" which followed, the first creation of that element ; in the " sun, moon, and stars " of the " fourth day/' the similar origination of all the celestial bodies ; and so forth. It is a satisfactory instance of the mutual reaction of revelation and science, that our knowledge of Cosmogony has long since outstripped these raw beginnings; and the great question now in discussion among geologists is one, which, in either way of deciding it, can only end in reflecting fresh honour on the marvellous accuracy of the Mosaic record.

Contents

Chap.

I. Introductory Observations . .

II. The Life of Moses. — First Part

Appendix

Notice of " The History of the Old Covenant," by Dr. Kurtz. Foreign Translation Series. T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1859 .... 293-

Appendix Notes.

Chap. II. On the Contemporary History of Egypt, regarding chiefly (1.) The Time of the Exodus. (2.) The reigning Sovereign, and General Condition of the Country at the Time

41—57 xxii Contents.

Page Chap. III. On the Typical Character of Moses . 90 — 95

Chap. IV. Dr. Whewell on the Origin of Language . 129

Chap. V. On the supposed Agencies in the great Physical Disturbances of the Earth's Surface, at the successive Geological Epochs . . . 163 — 166

Chap. VI. On the Contrast between the Biblical and Geological Accounts, as to the Precedence of the Vegetable to the Animal Tribes . 201

Chap. VII. (1.) On .alleged Human Eemains in the older Strata. (2.) On the Divine Image in Man, various Opinions contrasted. (3.) On the Effects of the Fall on the Divine Image in Man, and the Means of its Kecovery .... 228—242

Chap. VIII. On the Relation of Genesis to the Subsequent Books of the Pentateuch . . . 283—289

THE VERACITY

OF

THE BOOK OF GENESIS,

CHAPTER I. Introductory Observations

Ie a book were presented to us, professing to chap.

contain an account of the first man, the first : —

arts and sciences, the first cities, the first origin of nations, the first houses, the first ships, — to say nothing of the earliest ideas of religion, and the earliest institutions of religious worship, — the very profession of such a theme would secure for it a more than ordinary attention and interest. Now just such a book — to go no deeper into it at present — is the book of Genesis. On the most cursory inspection, it abounds with notices of the very antiquities we have enumerated. ArchaBologically considered, there is nothing in the

B

\ Veracity of Genesis.

chap, whole compass of historical document that bears

'- — the marks of such great and venerable antiquity, —

nothing that embraces subjects of the same universal interest, the same extensive relation to the world we live in, and to the original and essential elements of society. Some would claim for it a still wider sphere. In its opening portion they would see the formation of primitive rocks, — the first filling of space with the immensity of all created matter, with the stars in their several spheres, with ethereal and liquid forms, before they were shaped and consolidated into the grosser elements which have since been associated with our ideas of the material world. And to what extent the mysteries of creative power were intended to be evolved in detail in the Mosaic account, — or how far the details given are calculated to bear the test of physical science,— or within what limits the description holds good, — may be regarded as open questions. But of this we are certain, — for of this there is the clearest evidence on the face of the account, — that we have here what professes to be a description of the primitive state of man, and of the world as coeval with man, i.e., as immediately prepared for his habitation. It then goes on with a relation of the times and events immediately subsequent, — events directly bearing on all the interests of society in general, and on the whole history of the world to the present time. And such being the obvious and professed scope and nature of this wonderful

Value of Genesis as an Introductory Book. 3

book, an enquiry at once suggests itself, on what chap. grounds of authority it rests, and how far its claims to inspiration deserve to be admitted? In other words, what were the sources from which the author derived his information? and whence did he obtain it ? Was it to his superior skill in antiquarian research? to extraordinary erudition, and great advantages of education? or was it rather to still higher endowments, to preternatural aid, and to direct light from Heaven, that we may ascribe these marvellous revelations? 1 Genesis being the first book in Holy Scripture, adds greatly to the importance of this enquiry. It is there that our earliest ideas are formed of the Divine administration and government of the world ; it is there we find the key to the imagery and phraseology of all other scripture ; there that its chief allusions find their explanation; and, if we take in the whole Pentateuch, we may say, it is there only we must look for all the principal ideas and historic facts

1 u There is no work whose loss history now extant was composed ;

would cause a wider chasm in and that the facts which it records

our historical knowledge than the are exactly those about which our

first five books of the Old Testa- curiosity would be most alive,

ment. But for them, we should supposing we had no information

be without so much as even a concerning our primeval ancestors

tradition respecting the early his- beyond what has been preserved

tory of mankind. Of the value of in the broken and, for the most

this book as a mere literary docu- part, fabulous traditions which

ment, it may be sufficient to ob- we find in the ancient poets of

serve, that the language in which Greece." — Lyall's Preparation of

it is written had ceased to be a Prophecy, Part I. ch. viii. spoken language before any other

b 2 t Veracity of Genesis.

chap, which form the basis, the great vocabulary, as it

'■ — were, of the entire volume of inspiration.

In assisting, as we hope to do, in this important enquiry, — an enquiry so much the more pressed upon our attention of late years by the doubtful tone into which even some eminent theologians have fallen on the subject, — we may state, at the outset, that the class of evidence to which we shall have occasion to appeal is that which arises from the nature of the contents themselves of the books of Moses, and particularly of the earlier chapters of Genesis. For of all the proofs that may be alleged in favour of their Divine inspiration, none has appeared to us more interesting or more conclusive than the kind of evidence of which we speak. Foremost, we would place the whole life and character of the great Lawgiver himself, whose exploits follow in the subsequent portions of the Pentateuch. And assuming, according to the uniform tradition of the Jews, that the giving of the law and all those exploits, and the writing of the Books, were by the same hand, we find in the very nature of the transactions presumptive evidence of no mean degree, that the author was, in his writings also, acting under the immediate sanction and assistance of Heaven. The fact is, we do not ordinarily take our measure of the authority of Genesis from the earlier chapters of it, nor from any particular subjects in them, but from the general tenor of those subsequent portions of

Proper Estimate of the Writer. I

the Pentateuch which contain the actual history chap.

i. of the writer (for so we take leave to call him 1 ) : —

and of the marvellous people whose appointed leader and prophet he was. It is to this history that the earlier chapters lead up and are introductory. It would seem, therefore, unreasonable to dwell much on the details of the latter till we have furnished ourselves, in the first instance, with the necessary information derivable from the former. Our value for the writings insensibly depends on our estimate of the writer. And though the highest opinion which, upon a diligent study of that history of Moses, we might conceive of the wisdom, the ability, and the integrity of his conduct and character, would not exactly justify us in concluding him to have been the subject of immediate and actual inspiration, yet could we not deny to those qualities, when fairly made out, that due weight which is ever accorded to them by the universal sentiments of humanity. A certain amount of credit will readily be allowed for such qualifications, appearing in whomsoever they may. They naturally pave the way for a more attentive hearing of those other and higher claims which, though resting on distinct grounds, seem thus recommended, as it were, to our more patient and impartial consideration. It may not, therefore, be an unprofitable