Nothing more shows the truth of this history than its
humility, its continual confession of sin, its readiness to confess
the ugly truth that the Jews are a foolish, ignorant, unmanageable,
lawless, sensual race, stiffnecked and rebellious, always resisting
the Holy Spirit. The immense difference between the Old Testament
history and that of all other nations is, that it is a history not
of their virtues, but of their sins; and a history, on the other
hand, of God's punishments and mercies. God in the Old Testament is
all, and the Jews are nothing; and one may say that it differs from
all other histories in this, that it is not a history of the Jews
themselves at all, but a history of God's dealings with them.
If any man chooses to explain that, by saying that the story was all
invented by priests and prophets afterwards, to rebuke the people
for falling into idolatry, he must have his fancy. Thought is free-
-for the present, at least--though it is written that for every idle
word that men speak, they shall give account at the day of judgment.
But one question I must ask, and I am sure that British common sense
and British honesty will ask it too: If these prophets were really
good men, fearing God, and wishing to make their countrymen fear him
likewise, would it not have been a rather strange way of showing
that they feared God to tell their countrymen a set of fables and
lies? Good men are not in the habit of telling lies now, and never
have been; for no lie is of the truth, or can possibly help the
truth in any way; and all liars have their portion in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone.
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