with life: remember that Beloved One, who | and believed, and obeyed it. The placed you in the womb, reared and nourished Light had been shining in their dark you. O GOD, thou art, as it were, exceeding riches; Thy regulations are without compare; Thou art the chief of every world, yet remainest invisible. Take such food and raiment as it may please GOD to provide you with: you require naught besides. What hope can those have elsewhere, even if they wandered over the whole earth, who abandon GOD? It will be impossible for you to profit anything, if you are not with GOD, even if you were to wander from country to country. Have no desires, but accept what circumstances may bring before you; because, whatever GOD pleaseth to direct, can never be wrong. All things are exceeding sweet to those who love GOD; they would never style them bitter, even if filled with poison; on the con trary, they would accept them as if they were ambrosia. Adversity is good, if on account of GOD; but it is useless to pain the body. Without GOD, the comforts of wealth are unprofitable. Do unto me, O GOD, as Thou thinkest best: I am obedient to Thee. My disciples! behold no other GOD; go nowhere but to Him. Condemn none of those things, which the Creator hath made. Those are His holy servants, who are satisfied with them. We are not creators: the Creator is a distinct Being; He can make whatever He desireth, but we can make nothing. GOD ever fostereth His creatures, even as a mother serves her offspring, and keepeth it from harm. O GOD, Thou who art the Truth, grant me contentment, love, devotion, and faith. Thy servant prayeth for true patience, and that he may be devoted to Thee. He, that formed the mind, made it as it were a temple for Himself to dwell in; for GOD liveth in the mind, and none other but GOD. O my friend, recognise that Being, with whom thou art so intimately connected; think not that GOD is distant, but believe that, like thy own shadow, He is ever near thee. If you call upon GOD, you will be able to subdue your imperfections, and the evil inclinations of your mind will depart from you; but they will return to you again, when you cease to call upon Him. 176. Many other like passages might be quoted from the writings of pious heathens. And surely it may be said of the writers of such words, These men were not far from the Kingdom of God.' Rather, let us say, they had already entered the Kingdom: with their earnest 'violence' they had 'taken it by force,' Matt.xi. 12. The Living Word had been speaking in their hearts, and they had heard the Divine Voice, ness "The True Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,' St.John i.9— and they had received it, and rejoiced in it; while as yet no Gospel message had reached them from the lips of Apostles, or by the labours of Christian Missionaries. It is, I repeat, one of the strongest confirmations of our faith and hope in God to know this—that in all ages of the world, among all nations, there are signs, like these, that one and the self-same Spirit of Grace has been enlightening, strengthening, and comforting the minds of our fellow-men. blind to the supreme excellence of that 177. Yet, with all this, we cannot be Book, which tells us God's Truth, and declares the Divine Will, more fully and authoritatively than any other, and which we therefore call the 'Word notion of its infallible accuracy, of God'-the Bible. Laying aside the in matters of scientific or historical truth,admitting, as we must, that it contains many legendary narratives, and even much, in the Hebrew Scriptures, which, considered in the light of Christianity, we must pronounce to be defective in a moral and religious point of view, unworthy of that Divine Author, to whom by so many the whole has been directly ascribed, yet still, throughout the sacred writings, both of the Old and New Testament, there breathes a Divine Spirit of life and holiness, such as we find nowhere else in the whole compass of heathen literature. 178. Thus, then, while we are sure that the Word of God' will be heard oftentimes by the pious heart in the utterances of heathen men,—just as, we know, there are passages in the apocryphal writings, e. g. in Ecclesiasticus, which, though not parts of the canonical Scriptures, we yet feel to be living words of Truth, and, as such, divinely inspired,-yet still, in all the writings of heathen men that we know of, there is nothing to compare with the devotional Psalms, or with the prophecies of Isaiah or Jeremiah,-still less, with the teachings of St. Paul and St. John. Whatever may be thought of its inspiration and authority, the Bible must be confessed whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan, to be a Book sui generis,-unlike and the land was polluted with blood.' Ps.cvi. 37,38. other book or collection of books what any ever, which have originated among heathen nations,-unique in the history of the world. 179. But, further, knowing what we do of the gross and frightful idolatries, which were practised by the Israelites generally down to the very time of the Captivity, if not even during the exile, the spirituality of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the clear views expressed in them as to the Unity, the Majesty, the Holiness, the Goodness, of God, and the perfect purity of the Divine Law, are indeed amazing, and afford to the unprejudiced mind an overwhelming proof, that the writers were divinely inspired. 180. We know, for instance, that before the Captivity-in Judah, as well as in Israel-human sacrifices were freely offered,―nay, that Jerusalem itself was habitually profaned with the ' 'innocent blood' of firstborn children, who were made to pass through' the fire, -in other words, were burnt to death, --as victims, in honour of the idol whom they worshipped, Moloch or Baal. But this strange fact is of so much importance, and is so little considered in judging of the moral and religious state of Israel before the Captivity, that it may be well to produce at once the proofs of the truth of this statement. 181. Let the reader, then, consider well the following passages. "The children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith Jehovah : they have set their abominations in the House which is called by my Name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire,-which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.' Jer.vii.30,31. They have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents: they have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burntofferings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind.' Jer.xix.4,5. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, 182. It is plain that in the above passages the phrase, 'to shed innocent blood,' is used with express reference to the sacrifice of young children; and pass through,'='pass through the it appears also that the expression, fire,' is only an euphemism for 'burning alive.' Thus we read— 6 L.xviii.21, Thou shall not (let) make any of thy seed pass through to Molech,' comp. L.xx.2, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel that giveth his seed unto Molech, he shall surely be put to death :' comp. also Jer. xxxii.35, and they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of to pass through unto Molech, which I comHinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters manded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.' D.xviii.9,10, Thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations; there shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire: comp. D.xii.31, Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and gods.' their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their And so we read of the king of Moab, that in his distress 'He took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall, 2K.iii.27; and of the people of Sepharvaim that,— 'They burnt their children in fire to Adramvaim,' 2K.xvii.31. melech, and Anammelech, the gods of Sephar 183. So, too, the fact that the children were actually sacrificed and burnt to death,-not merely dedicated to the idol, as many suppose,-is plainly shown by the following passages:— Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?' Is.lvii.4,5. 'Moreover, thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through for them? Ez.xvi.20,21. "Yea, declare unto them their abominations, that they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through for them to devour. . . . For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my Sanctuary 1 to profane it; and lo, thus have they done in | xxiii. 10, human sacrifices. We shall the midst of my House.' Ez.xxiii.37,39. find these observations of considerable importance, as we advance further in our critical enquiries. 184. From the above instances we may see what is really meant by 'passing through the fire' in other passages, e.g. where it is said of Ahaz, 2K.xvi.3, He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel;' and of Manasseh, 2K.xxi.6— 'He made his son to pass through the fire;' and of the people, 2K.xvii. 17— "They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire:' while of Josiah it is told 2K.xxiii.10 He defiled Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.' 185. It will be seen that Ahaz and Manasseh are stated to have offered each his son,-not his sons,—and so, in the last passage, we have his son or his daughter.' These expressions correspond with the following, from which it would seem that only the first-born child, that 'openeth the womb,' whether male or female, was thus offered: 'I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Jehovah.' Ez.xx.26. And from the following it would appear that the practice continued even after the Captivity: 187. But, for the present, it will be enough to note that this was the state of Judah and Israel, when the great Prophets of the Old Testament lived, and witnessed for God among their people. With such fearful practices, and all the kindred vices of heathenism, the grossest impurities, and most loathsome abominations, prevailing amongst them, even in their most sacred places, 2K.xiv.24, xxiii.7, the language of Isaiah and Jeremiah, breathing the spirit of holy fear and trust and love,-of meek piety and patient faith, and pure self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of truth and righteousness,—can only be regarded as inspired and Divine. 188. We conclude with the following very important words of Bishop THIRLWALL in his recent Charge, p.123. A great part of the events related in the Old Testament has no more apparent connection with our religion than those of Greek and Roman history. The history, so far as it is a narrative of civil and political transactions, has no essential connection with any religious truth; and if it had been lost, though we should have been left in ignorance of much that we desired to know, our treasure of Christian doctrine would have remained whole and unimpaired. The numbers, migrations, wars, battles, conquests, and reverses, of 'Wherefore say unto the House of Israel, Israel, have nothing in common with the teachThus saith the Lord God, Are ye polluted ing of Christ, with the way of salvation, with after the manner of your fathers, and commit the fruits of the Spirit. They belong to a ye whoredom after their abominations? For totally different order of subjects. They are when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your not to be confounded with the spiritual revesons to pass through the fire, ye pollute your-lation contained in the Old Testament, much selves with your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O House of Israel?' Ez.xx.30,31. 186. From all the above instances it is sufficiently plain that the Israelites, like the nations around them, practised habitually, in the days of the later kings, the horrid rites of human sacrifice. And, when we also read, 1K.xi.7 less with that fulness of grace and truth, which came by Jesus Christ. Whatever knowledge we may obtain of them is, in a religious point of view, a matter of absolute indifference to us; and if they were placed on a level with the saving truths of the Gospel, they would gain nothing in intrinsic dignity, but would only degrade that with which they are thus associated. Such an association may indeed exist in the minds of pious and even learned men: but it is only by means of an artificial chain of reasoning, which does not carry conviction to all beside. Such questions must be left to every one's private judgment and feeling, which have the fullest it can scarcely be doubted that Solomon, right to decide for each, but not to impose their decisions, as the dictates of an infallible authority, too, connived, at all events, at the usual on the consciences of others. Any attempt to rites, with which these gods were wor-erect such facts into articles of faith, would be shipped, and among which are specially fraught with danger of irreparable evil to the Church, as well as with immediate hurt to reckoned, as we have seen, 2K.iii. 27, numberless souls. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon' THE PENTATEUCH AND BOOK OF JOSHUA CRITICALLY EXAMINED BY THE RIGHT REV JOHN WILLIAM COLENSO, D.D. BISHOP OF NATAL. 'We can do nothing against the Truth, but for the Truth.'-St. Paul, 2 Cor. xiii. S. 'Not to exceed, and not to fall short of, facts,-not to add, and not to take away,-to state the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,-are the grand, the vital, maxims of Inductive Science, of English Law, and, let us add, of Christian Faith.' Quarterly Review on Essays and Reviews,' Oct. 1861, p. 369. PART II. LONDON: LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, & GREEN. 1865. The right of translation is reserved. |