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第2章

the lights of the church and the light of science-第2章

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Christianity; among the religions of the world; lies in its

claim to be historical; to be surely founded upon events which

have happened; exactly as they are declared to have happened in

its sacred books; which are true; that is; in the sense that the

statement about the execution of Charles the First is true。

Further; it is affirmed that the New Testament presupposes the

historical exactness of the Old Testament; that the points of

contact of 〃sacred〃 and 〃profane〃 history are innumerable;

and that the demonstration of the falsity of the Hebrew records;

especially in regard to those narratives which are assumed to be

true in the New Testament; would be fatal to Christian theology。



My utmost ingenuity does not enable me to discover a flaw in the

argument thus briefly summarised。 I am fairly at a loss to

comprehend how any one; for a moment; can doubt that Christian

theology must stand or fall with the historical trustworthiness

of the Jewish Scriptures。 The very conception of the Messiah; or

Christ; is inextricably interwoven with Jewish history; the

identification of Jesus of Nazareth with that Messiah rests upon

the interpretation of passages of the Hebrew Scriptures which

have no evidential value unless they possess the historical

character assigned to them。 If the covenant with Abraham was not

made; if circumcision and sacrifices were not ordained by

Jahveh; if the 〃ten words〃 were not written by God's hand on the

stone tables; if Abraham is more or less a mythical hero; such

as Theseus; the story of the Deluge a fiction; that of the Fall

a legend; and that of the creation the dream of a seer; if all

these definite and detailed narratives of apparently real events

have no more value as history than have the stories of the regal

period of Romewhat is to be said about the Messianic doctrine;

which is so much less clearly enunciated? And what about the

authority of the writers of the books of the New Testament; who;

on this theory; have not merely accepted flimsy fictions for

solid truths; but have built the very foundations of Christian

dogma upon legendary quicksands?



But these may be said to be merely the carpings of that carnal

reason which the profane call common sense; I hasten; therefore;

to bring up the forces of unimpeachable ecclesiastical authority

in support of my position。 In a sermon preached last December;

in St。 Paul's Cathedral; Canon Liddon declares:





For Christians it will be enough to know that our Lord Jesus

Christ set the seal of His infallible sanction on the whole of

the Old Testament。 He found the Hebrew canon as we have it in

our hands to…day; and He treated it as an authority which was

above discussion。 Nay more: He went out of His wayif we may

reverently speak thusto sanction not a few portions of it

which modern scepticism rejects。 When He would warn His hearers

against the dangers of spiritual relapse; He bids them remember

〃Lot's wife。〃 When He would point out how worldly engagements

may blind the soul to a coming judgment; He reminds them how men

ate; and drank; and married; and were given in marriage; until

the day that Noah entered into the ark; and the Flood came and

destroyed them all。 If He would put His finger on a fact in

past Jewish history which; by its admitted reality; would

warrant belief in His own coming Resurrection; He points to

Jonah's being three days and three nights in the whale's belly

(p。 23)。〃





The preacher proceeds to brush aside the commonI had almost

said vulgarapologetic pretext that Jesus was using ad

hominem arguments; or 〃accommodating〃 his better knowledge

to popular ignorance; as well as to point out the

inadmissibility of the other alternative; that he shared the

popular ignorance。 And to those who hold the latter view sarcasm

is dealt out with no niggard hand。





But they will find it difficult to persuade mankind that; if He

could be mistaken on a matter of such strictly religious

importance as the value of the sacred literature of His

countrymen; He can be safely trusted about anything else。 The

trustworthiness of the Old Testament is; in fact; inseparable

from the trustworthiness of our Lord Jesus Christ; and if we

believe that He is the true Light of the world; we shall close

our ears against suggestions impairing the credit of those

Jewish Scriptures which have received the stamp of His Divine

authority〃 (p。 25)。





Moreover; I learn from the public journals that a brilliant and

sharply…cut view of orthodoxy; of like hue and pattern; was only

the other day exhibited in that great theological kaleidoscope;

the pulpit of St。 Mary's; recalling the time so long passed by;

when a Bampton lecturer; in the same place; performed the

unusual feat of leaving the faith of old…fashioned

Christians undisturbed。



Yet many things have happened in the intervening thirty…one

years。 The Bampton lecturer of 1859 had to grapple only with the

infant Hercules of historical criticism; and he is now a full…

grown athlete; bearing on his shoulders the spoils of all the

lions that have stood in his path。 Surely a martyr's courage; as

well as a martyr's faith; is needed by any one who; at this

time; is prepared to stand by the following plea for the

veracity of the Pentateuch:





Adam; according to the Hebrew original; was for 243 years

contemporary with Methuselah; who conversed for a hundred years

with Shem。 Shem was for fifty years contemporary with Jacob; who

probably saw Jochebed; Moses's mother。 Thus; Moses might by oral

tradition have obtained the history of Abraham; and even of the

Deluge; at third hand; and that of the Temptation and the Fall

at fifth hand。 。。。



If it be grantedas it seems to bethat the great and stirring

events in a nation's life will; under ordinary circumstances; be

remembered (apart from all written memorials) for the space of

150 years; being handed down through five generations; it must

be allowed (even on more human grounds) that the account which

Moses gives of the Temptation and the Fall is to be depended

upon; if it passed through no more than four hands between him

and Adam。





If 〃the trustworthiness of our Lord Jesus Christ〃 is to stand or

fall with the belief in the sudden transmutation of the chemical

components of a woman's body into sodium chloride; or on the

〃admitted reality〃 of Jonah's ejection; safe and sound; on the

shores of the Levant; after three days' sea…journey in the

stomach of a gigantic marine animal; what possible pretext can

there be for even hinting a doubt as to the precise truth of the

longevity attributed to the Patriarchs? Who that has swallowed

the camel of Jonah's journey will be guilty of the affectation

of straining at such a historical gnatnay; midgeas the

supposition that the mother of Moses was told the story of the

Flood by Jacob; who had it straight from Shem; who was on

friendly terms with Methuselah; who knew Adam quite well?



Yet; by the strange irony of things; the illustrious brother of

the divine who propounded this remarkable theory; has been the

guide and foremost worker of that band of investigators of the

records of Assyria and of Babylonia; who have opened to our

view; not merely a new chapter; but a new volume of primeval

history; relating to the very people who have the most numerous

points of contact with the life of the ancient Hebrews。

Now; whatever imperfections may yet obscure the full value of

the Mesopotamian records; everything that has been clearly

ascertained tends to the conclusion that the assignment of no

more than 4000 years to the period between the time of the

origin of mankind and that of Augustus Caesar; is wholly

inadmissible。 Therefore the Biblical chronology; which Canon

Rawlinson trusted so implicitly in 1859; is relegated by all

serious critics to the domain of fable。




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