Show FACTS AND conjectures CONJ some of the allegations made by modern advocates advocate of f higher ariti cism as an applied to the books of the bible rest rent on assumptions 0 so o as to be almost ridiculous to any one who has given the subject a careful consideration recently a writer in ID the arena asks what was wag the law of moses which ezra read aud And he hort r pilot we do not know with absolute certainty but it was probably the pentateuch or first five books of our bible still till called the books of moses and containing the account of the creation and of the flood the early history of the hebrews the commandments and the priestly ritual these records had been written by many a hand through many a generation they were now for the first time gathered together in one book As their authors were unknown to whom should they be ascribed but to moses 1 the lawgiver and leader the great national hero the author simply simpli contradicts contradict all the testimony on the and ar a without trace or of proof that at the time of ezra the authorship ut of the pentateuch was unknown the books book collected for the first time and the name of moses stamped on them hem for effect if historical testimony is worthless and conjecture substituted for argument of course anything oan can be proven andt and that bat is pretty near the be very essence of higher the fact to that malaea asee according to deuter wrote the law and delivered it to the sons BOOB of levi officiating clat in the sanctuary it was wa carefully placed in the ark and was wag to be read to the be people old and young citizens and aliens at stated intervals inter vala it remained to lo the custody of priests during the journeys lo in the wilderness and after wards in jerusalem when the temple was built in that alty city solomon depos lied the law in the sanctuary altime pawed passed on it seems own to nave have been forgotten through negligence of reading it lo in public until the reign of josiah it was found by bythe the officiating high priest A succession of prophets arose after this all flourie flourishing blog before the destruction of the temple and all were familiar with the sacred amanti scripts proving beyond contradiction that hat they were preserved during the captivity daniel refers to the law as aa familiar to him andily andi to is therefore no conjecture that ezra upon the return from babylon bad in his pie possession session the law in the main as originally deposited in the sanctuary by its ita illustrious author to this were added the me then extant writings writing of the other obber old ola testament historians poets poeta and prophets and the divine inspiration the be learning integrity and zeal of ezra and hiroo his c workers are a sufficient xua that nothing was waa admitted to the sacred collection but that which could be proven on historical it arounds roundo nr to be genuine and authentic lot let it be remembered that the collection of books book as made by ezra wax was so ao ce apted by the bon boa of god as aa scripture and that now new testament Teet ament writers refer no lew ion than times to the pentateuch chr birst st generally prefacing his quotations quo tationa by ascribing its ita authorship to moses and the true nature of higher criticism will be better appreciated ordinary critics critic however will be content with resting reeling on the statement tat ement of the great nazarene arene the now new testament Teat ament li Is disposed of with equal notion alance the author in the arena says at the time of christs christa death there were in existence only some of his hia sayings and certain stories of his life moreover these were not in writing they were oral by 70 A D the date of the siege of jerusalem there were in writing certain epistles or letters and probably part martof of the book of revelation in addition to these however there were memoranda of Chrie christs tys life and death but these were and not recognized as holy scripture yov they were at the very first conference in jerusalem the resolutions adopted were recorded as the word of god acts 1528 and as a early as an at the date of the whitin of the second epistle of peter the writings of paul are referred to as an scriptures scripture 2 peter this settles settle the important question whether the apostles of our lord claimed authority equal to the more ancient inspired men they both claimed such authority and were from the first sustained by their followers follower they did not gain such dip din unction gradually but were at once recognized in speech and writings as the messengers from god the fact is that in the beginning of our era a great many writings were circulated claiming inspired author ship finally it became necessary to determine which were genuine enuine 1 aud and which were not 11 this ble was the work of the early councils and so oo careful were they in this regard that they would reject a possibly Bibly genuine book it if the evidence seemed insufficient it is ia on record that the apostle john publicly acknowledged the be authenticity of the first three gospels and added hla his own asa an a supplement to them most of the he epistles of paul bear his name and were written in the presence of wit nesses they were sent bent by private messengers gera and generally addressed add reed to public bodies bodice they were read in public and copied and aad circulated throughout the churches the church councils that collected these writings bad therefore evidence suf and they were guided lo in their decisions by cacti evi evidence d ence moreover their work was waa practically concluded as aa early an aa in the third century after christ while historical facts facto still were eay easy of access it if the decision of a competent legal tribunal Is in conducive conclusive evidence of a tact fact proven before it or it if the opinion of an eminent mathematician may be accepted as proof of the soundness of a demonstration the declaration of the early christians christiana as a to the genuineness of the now new testament is a proof not authority but evidence that cannot be shaken by a criticism that in based largely on conjectures conjecture |