Nor will our reverence for the Scriptures be
impaired if, in such cases, it be frankly said, '_There_ is an insoluble
difficulty.' Such a course is far less dangerous to the moral sense than
that pernicious ingenuity which, assuming that there can be no literal
errors in Scripture, resorts to subtle arts of criticism,
improbabilities of statement, and violence of construction, such as, if
made use of in the intercourse of men in daily life, would break up
society and destroy all faith of man in man.
'We dwell at length on this topic now, that we may not be obliged to
recur to it when, as will be the case, other instances arise in which
there is no solution of unimportant, though real, literary difficulties.
'There are a multitude of minute, and on the whole, as respects the
substance of truth, not important questions and topics, which, like a
fastened door, refuse to be opened by any key which learning has brought
to them. It is better to let them stand closed than, like impatient
mastiffs, after long barking in vain, to lie whining at the door, unable
to enter, and unwilling to go away. _Life of Jesus, pp. 77-81._
The Rev. G. Rawlinson, in an able lecture in defence of the Bible,
published by the CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY of London, acknowledges that
there are matters of uncertainty in some parts of the Old Testament
history, and says, 'The time allowed by the common version of the Bible
for all the events which took place from the days of Noah, to the birth
of Christ, and for all the changes by which the various races of men
were formed, by which civilization and the arts were developed, etc.
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