undertaken, the original features of the work could not be entirely sacrificed, and yet, with the view of providing something that might survive a mere temporary interest, some change was necessary. To accomplish both these objects, he has been compelled to admit some blemishes in arrangement, some peculiarities of treatment, and a few repetitions: for these, the indulgence of the reader is requested. The notes are fresh matter, which it is hoped will add to the usefulness of the work.

For the general scope and design of this publication, he has no apology to offer, no indulgence to ask, no solicitude to express: feeling assured, that a plain enunciation of spiritual truth has been aimed at, and sincerely believing in the religious soundness of the grounds which have been taken for it, he is content to leave the result in the hands of that wise Providence, which, in superintending the greatest things of the universe, does not overlook the minutest efforts of men.

In conclusion, it may be observed, that if this work had been written for his own religious connections merely, the author would, in many instances, have adopted another mode of treatment and expression; but as it was designed for more general use, he has considered it proper to avoid, so far as convenient, all the appearances of technicality, and to present the subjects in as popular a form, as he thought their recondite character would permit.

The Postdiluvian History to the call of Abram, is eminently interesting, and should this work prove acceptable, the author will feel encouraged to undertake its elucidation in a similar volume.

PRESTON, November 25, 1850.

ANTEDILUVIAN HISTORY.

INTRODUCTION.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE NARRATIVE. "As to the particular form in which the descriptive narrative (of creation) is conveyed, we merely affirm that it cannot be History — it may be Poetry."- Rev. BADEN POWELL, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., Savilian Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford. Art. "Creation," in Kitto's Biblical Cyclopædia.

In order correctly to understand the written documents of antiquity, it is necessary to know something of the genius of the people, among whom they were produced. Without this information, we are liable to great mistakes. Very different styles of writing have prevailed among the same nations, at different periods of their existence; and the deeper we penetrate into their mental history, the less literal and more poetic shall we find their methods of expression to have been. This fact is not to be disregarded, in prosecuting the inquiry we have now before us. It bears forcibly upon the point. And this leads us to ask, Whether Antediluvian History, as contained in the Bible, was written in accordance with that historical and grammatical criticism, with which it has been common, in modern times, to interpret it? We think not. The record of creation has been found to give way before the discoveries and demands of science. The genius of a matter-of-fact people, is not the precise thing, by which to judge of the literary productions of a period essentially interior and poetic. And therefore, we may again ask, Whether this peculiar condition of mind, which prevailed during the early periods of our race, when these remarkable documents were originally produced, may not have induced them to describe mental existences and moral processes, in a historical form? May not the rise of the human mind, out of inactivity and darkness, and its successive advancement into a state prolific with intelligence and virtue, have been described by such a people as the creation of a world? May not the intellectual sentiment and living affection, which are successively developed during such a process, have been considered by them, as so many days of the Divine Work? We think it highly

probable we can even now perceive a certain general resemblance between the description, and the process we have indicated and every one is aware that it was usual, in after-times, to speak of the mind of man as a microcosm a little world, while the Greek fabulists commonly represented his various sentiments, by numerous objects selected from animated nature.

This style did not originate with the Greeks, it prevailed long before they existed as a nation, and it can be historically traced among people of much higher antiquity;- the Egyptians, for instance.

If then, the early portions of Genesis should prove, as we believe they will do, not to be a history of physical things, but the history of mental processes and phenomena, expressed in a peculiar way, it will follow, that long and large mistakes have been made concerning them, and that most of the valuable information, they were written to convey to posterity, has been entirely overlooked by them.

We are aware that there are those, who have great hesitation in attaching any other meaning to the words of the Bible, than that which they ordinarily bear. They seem to think, that in giving up their physical sense, or natural application, they must relinquish their real and solid signification. But, as it is evident, that there are multitudes of instances in the Bible, in which words are employed in a sense widely different from that, in which they are commonly used, that hesitation cannot be well founded. The fact which it supposes, cannot be maintained. Moreover, those who consider the words to be significant of spiritual things, regard such things to be much more real, solid, and enduring, than any thing which the physical sense attached to them can express; and therefore, the setting aside their ordinary signification, does not deprive them of a meaning, having relation to reality.

The "bending" of the language of God's Book to any other than its obvious meaning, is said to be an "impiety." * But is it not the circumstance of the meaning not being always obvious, which necessitates the commentary? That which is plain needs no interpretation: the clear signification is brought out by the "bending," i. e. the interpretation, since, without it, there are numerous instances, in which there would be either no sense, or something exceedingly ambiguous. There cannot be any impiety

* E. B. Pusey, Regius Professor of Hebrew in Oxford. Letter to Dr. Buckland, in his Bridgewater Treatise, Geology and Mineralogy, p. 25.

INTERPRETATION NECESSARY.

17

in the honest endeavor, to render God's Book intelligible and instructive to its thinking readers. Impiety lies upon the other side,

in permitting ideas to be cherished, under the supposition that they are contained in God's Book, when in reality, they are not to be found therein, but are crude inductions, arising from erroneous meanings being attached to its language. The very fact, that it is God's Book, implies that it contains more than what immediately appears upon the surface, and thus, that the words are but the outer vehicle of some more interior thought, which interpretation is required to eliminate.

The narratives before us are conceded to be a Divine production; we believe that they, together with the whole Scriptures, contain within themselves much fuller evidence of this fact, than any which merely verbal or historical criticism can ever reach. Our inquiries then, do not involve any thing touching their authenticity and genuineness as a revelation from God: that to which our investigation relates, is the sense in which the Church should understand them. That they do require interpretation seems evident from the extensive commentaries, which, from time to time, have been written for their elucidation. The design of those productions has been, for the most part, to uphold the literal sense of these documents: and yet how very unsatisfactory is much that has been written on this side of the subject, when compared with what a free and philosophical inquiry will demand. When such writers have reached points, which have come into collision with the suggestions of reason, they have insisted on the necessity of faith, and pleaded the inexplicability of omnipotence. A becom ing piety is always proper in such investigations, but it was never intended to direct us from the path of enlightened investigation. We freely admit the value of faith, and at once concede the incomprehensibility of the Divine Power. This admission and concession ought to induce us to approach Scripture investigation, with humility and caution, but surely, they do not require us to relinquish the endeavor to rightly understand any thing, that has been delivered to us as a Revelation from God. Reason, consid ered as a faculty of our nature, is as much the production of God, as is the revelation of the Scriptures. They are designed mutually to assist and illustrate each other: and whensoever they are brought into collision, it is the result of some perversity on the part of man. When he is in order, the Scriptures will harmonize with his highest wants and perceptions.

Most persons are aware, that there are many serious difficulties, in the literal sense of the early portion of the Word, which remain unsolved, and that bright minds and deep learning have been employed upon the inquiry, without a successful issue. There are large numbers in the Professing Christian world, who are not yet convinced, that a right path has been chosen for this pursuit, and many will be glad and free to have the opportunity of considering some new views on the whole subject. These, in the course of this work, it will be our endeavor to provide; offering, as we proceed, such confirmation from revelation, evidence from history, and responses from the living sentiments of humanity, as our acquaintance with them will enable us to supply.

To doubt the truth of certain human interpretations of the Scripture, is one of the immunities of Protestant Christianity; and, notwithstanding religious differences have sprung out of this freedom, more generous and enlightened views have been promoted by its exercise. We are about to employ this privilege in another department of biblical inquiry; but for no other purpose, so far as we know our own hearts, than to advance the interest of what we believe to be the general scope, rational meaning, and religious design of the early chapters of the Book of Genesis. We believe those documents to be descriptions of spiritual phenomena only, and think that men did not begin to attach a natural meaning to them, until they had descended from an ancient state of intellectual eminence, and suffered their faith to pass into the obscurities of sensual apprehension. We hold, that it could not have been the intention of the Sacred Writings, to communicate to man instruction concerning physical truths. These were open to the scientific investigation and common understandings of natural men and the progress of science, in disclosing the monuments of the past ages of terrestrial existence, has established facts, which are utterly repugnant to the popular interpretation of the first chapter of the Hebrew Scriptures. The evidences, which geology has brought to light, carries us back into an unutterable period of time. They prove a duration to the earth; demonstrate the existence of living structures, of great diversity and interest, belonging to both the vegetable and animal kingdoms; they proclaim the operation of phenomena, and certify to innumerable events, all of which are plainly inconsistent with the notion, which regards the first chapter of Genesis to be a circumstantial narration of the primordial creation.