"SIGNIFICANT ADMISSIONS BY FIRST-RATE BIBLICAL "SCHOLARS.

"1.-The Bible.

"The Rev. S. R. Driver, D.D., Regius Professor of "Hebrew and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, accepts "the scientific view of man's origin, saying: 'During "the_last_half-century or so relics of human work66 6 manship have been found, chiefly in England, "Belgium, and France, but also in other parts of "the world, including America, showing that man ""in a rude and primitive stage of development "'ranged through the forests and river-valleys of "these continents, in company with mammals now "'extinct, at an age which cannot indeed be "measured precisely in years B.C., but which, upon "the most moderate estimate, cannot be less than 20,000 years from the present day' (The Book of Genesis, pp. xxxii-xxxiii).

Having furnished several other proofs of man's "antiquity, this erudite divine observes :—

"In what light, then, in view of this conclusion, "❝are we to view the representation contained in the "'early chapters of Genesis? The facts cannot be "'denied; yet the narrative of Genesis takes no ""account of them, and, indeed, leaves no room for "them. The great antiquity of man, the stages of "'culture through which he passed, and the wide "distribution of the human species, with strongly "marked racial differences, over the surface of the "earth, are all alike unexplained and inexplicable, "upon the historical system of Genesis i-xi.......We "'are forced, therefore, to the conclusion that though, "as may be safely assumed, the writers to whom we "'owe the first eleven chapters of Genesis report

"faithfully what was currently believed among the "Hebrews respecting the early history of mankind, ""at the same time making their narratives the "vehicle of many moral and spiritual lessons, yet "there was much which they did not know, and could "not take cognisance of; these chapters, conse"'quently, we are obliged to conclude, incomparable "as they are in other respects, contain no account of "the real beginnings, either of the earth itself, or "of man and human civilisation upon it' (Ibid., p. xlii).

"Canon Driver does not hesitate to point out the "utter unhistoricity of many other events recorded in "the Book of Genesis, such as the flood, the tower of "Babel, and most of chapter xiv. The Rev. George "Adam Smith, D.D., LL.D., Principal of Aberdeen "University, one of the greatest living authorities on "Biblical criticism, frankly admits that the history of "the Jews contained in the Old Testament is largely "unreliable. For example, the two Samuels and the "two Kings are almost constantly contradicted in the "two Chronicles. Principal Smith refers to the

numerous attempts which preachers used to make "to reconcile the double and sometimes contra"dictory stories of David's life-for instance, the two "very different accounts of his first introduction to "Saul':

"Their attempts to reconcile these involved-even "when one thought that they had succeeded-so ""much intricate explanation as to distract them from "the clear presentation of the moral issues, which it ""was their first duty as preachers to present and "enforce to their people. But they did not succeed. "The stories are irreconcilable (Modern Criticism and the Preaching of the Old Testament, pp. 78-79).