What matters it, then, that we have come to know
that the accounts of Creation, the Fall, the Deluge, and much
else in our sacred books, were remembrances of lore obtained from
the Chaldeans? What matters it that the beautiful story of Joseph
is found to be in part derived from an Egyptian romance, of which
the hieroglyphs may still be seen? What matters it that the story
of David and Goliath is poetry; and that Samson, like so many men
of strength in other religions, is probably a sun-myth? What
matters it that the inculcation of high duty in the childhood of
the world is embodied in such quaint stories as those of Jonah
and Balaam? The more we realize these facts, the richer becomes
that great body of literature brought together within the covers
of the Bible. What matters it that those who incorporated the
Creation lore of Babylonia and other Oriental nations into the
sacred books of the Hebrews, mixed it with their own conceptions
and deductions? What matters it that Darwin changed the whole
aspect of our Creation myths; that Lyell and his compeers placed
the Hebrew story of Creation and of the Deluge of Noah among
legends; that Copernicus put an end to the standing still of the
Sun for Joshua; that Halley, in promulgating his law of comets,
put an end to the doctrine of "signs and wonders"; that Pinel, in
showing that all insanity is physical disease, relegated to the
realm of mythology the witch of Endor and all stories of
demoniacal possession; that the Rev.
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