Museum of Antiquity: A Description of Ancient Life

by L. W. Yaggy; T. L. Haines

We are now conducted, by fair and consecutive reasoning, to our last general proposition, which is this: God was the author of the Bible.

By the Bible we mean, of course, both the Old and New Testaments. "The two Testaments," says one, "may be likened to the double-doors of the Temple—the Old is the New infolded—the New is the Old unfolded." The New Testament distinctly recognizes the Old as a revelation from God; and, referring to the Canon as received by the Jews, declares the books of which it consists genuine and credible. And by God being the author of the Bible we mean that it was "given by inspiration of Him." It may be necessary here to define certain terms which either have been, or may be, hereafter, employed in this essay. And these are:—Scripture; Testament; Inspiration; Gospel; Christianity; and Religion. Scripture, from scriptura, signifies writing—applied by way of eminence to what is written in the Bible. Testament, from testamentum, a deed or will; but according to another rendering the appropriate name of the Bible is, the Old and New Covenants; namely, the Mosaic and the Christian. Inspiration, from spiro, signifies I breathe. "By the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures," says an able writer, "I mean, such an immediate and complete discovery, by the Holy Spirit to the minds of the sacred penmen, of these things which could not have been otherwise known, and such an effectual superintendency as to those matters of which they might be informed or by other means, as entirely to preserve them from all error, in every particular which could in the least affect any of the doctrines or commandments contained in their writings." Gospel, from god, good, and spell, a history, a narrative, or message; and which denotes good news, glad tidings, news from God—applied emphatically to the book which contains the recital of our Saviour's life, miracles, death, and so on. Christianity, from christianitas, signifies the religion of Christians. And Religion, from religare, signifies to tie or bind, because by true religion the soul is tied or bound, as it were, to God and His service. These things being premised, we shall be justified in proceeding to establish our proposition; namely, that God was the author of the Bible. And we hold this to be demonstrable.

From its great antiquity. It is acknowledged to be the oldest book in the world. Its records embrace the creation of the world, the origin of man, the introduction of evil, the fall and recovery of our race; and it contains the only rational account ever given of these momentous matters. We can trace the Bible to the time of the Cæsars, beyond that to the translation of the Septuagint, and beyond that we can carry the proof up to the separation of the Jews and Samaritans; we can ascend up to the time when we discover that the law must have been given by a person called Moses to a people in the wilderness, at a time when idolatry was universal, and just as we have the facts recorded in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of the book of Exodus. And if Moses did not get the law from God, the getting it at all—the having it then as it is—is just as great a miracle as its coming from God Himself; and you may take your choice of the miracles—for the one is as great a miracle as the other. Tatian, one of the Greek fathers, tells us, that "Though Homer was before all poets, philosophers, and historians, and was the most ancient of all profane writers, yet Moses was more ancient than Homer himself." Tertullian, another celebrated writer of the second century, speaks to the same effect. "The Pagans themselves have not denied that the books of Moses were extant many ages before the states and cities of Greece; before their temples and gods; and also before the beginning of Greek letters." He moreover adds, "Moses lived five hundred years before Homer's time; and the other prophets who came a long time after Moses were yet more ancient than any of the wise men, lawgivers, and philosophers of Greece. And as the writings of Homer were a pattern to them, so in like manner he followed the writings of the prophets, as they were then known and spread abroad in the world." And the excellent and learned Sir W. Jones, adverting to the same point, remarked, "The antiquity of these writings no man doubts."

From its uncorrupted preservation. Though it has been hated and held in utter detestation by thousands, yet it has been preserved amidst all the revolutions of time, and handed down from generation to generation, even until now. And that it is in all essential points the same as it came originally from the hands of its authors, we have the most satisfactory evidence that can be required. "With regard to the Old Testament," says the late learned William Greenfield, "the original manuscripts were long preserved among the Jews, who were always remarkable for being most faithful guardians of their sacred books, which they transcribed repeatedly, and compared most carefully with the originals, of which they even numbered the words and letters. That the Jews have neither mutilated nor corrupted these writings is fully proved by the silence of the prophets as well as of Christ and His apostles, who, though they bring many heavy charges against them, never once accuse them of corrupting one of their sacred writings; and also by the agreement, in every essential point, of all the versions and manuscripts, amounting to nearly 1,150, which are now extant, and which furnishes a clear proof of their uncorrupted preservation."

PENTATEUCH, WRITTEN 3200 YEARS AGO.[ToList]

One of the most wonderful and ancient of these is the Pentateuch, as represented in the cut below. Mr. Mills says of it: "The roll itself is of what we would call parchment, but of a material much older than that, written in columns twelve inches deep and seven and a half wide. The writing is in a fair hand but not nearly so large or beautiful as the book copies which I had previously examined. The writing being rather small each column contains from seventy to seventy-two lines. The name of the scribe is written in a kind of acrostic, and forms part of the text, running through three columns and is found in the book of Deuteronomy. It was the work of the great grandson of Aaron, as indicated in the writing. The roll has all the appearance of a very high antiquity, and is wonderfully well preserved, considering its venerable age.

"One of the halves of the metal cylinder is very curious and deserves more attention than it has received at the hands of Biblical archæologists. It is of silver, about two feet and six inches long, by ten or twelve inches in diameter, and is covered with embossed work with a descriptive legend attached to each portion. It proves to be the Tabernacle of the Wilderness.

"In fact, the constant reading of the sacred books, which were at once the rule of their faith and of their political constitution, in public and private; the numerous copies of the original as well as of the Septuagint version, which was widely spread over the world; the various sects and parties into which the Jews were divided after their canon was closed, as well as their dispersion into every part of the globe, concurred to render any attempt at fabrication impossible before the time of Christ, and after that period, the same books being in the hands of the Christians, they would instantly have detected the fraud of the Jews if they had endeavored to accomplish such a design, while the silence of the Jews, who would not have failed to notice the attempt if it had been made, is a clear proof that they were not corrupted by the Christians.