made in connection with a strange writing brought forward from the temple by a priest. But the experiment fails for lack of popular support; and the people soon return to the ancient village churches. Everything goes to show that the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings, although they stand after the Hexateuch in our present arrangement of the Bible, were compiled before the Hexateuch was written, and that they present material for a more trustworthy and reasonable view of Hebrew history than do the first six books of Scripture. Their testimony agrees with what scientific research has discovered about the origin of other ancient nations outside the limits of Hebrew history, and also with what has been learned about clan life among the less advanced races at the present day. We shall therefore temporarily set the Hexateuch aside, reverting to it later in our study. The fact of its disagreement with the books following it neither deprives it of all value as a historical witness nor invalidates it as an item in the wonderful process by which the religion of the Bible came into the world. But of this, more in due course. Our immediate concern is with the modern view of Hebrew history as that view is formulated in dependence upon Bible sources outside the Hexateuch. The modern answer to the question about the origin of the Hebrew nation may be stated briefly, in sociological terms, as follows: The social group known as "the Hebrew nation" came slowly into existence, in the land of Canaan, at the point of junction between two previously hostile races, the Israelites and the Amorites. By planting ourselves firmly upon the group idea, and examining the Bible from this point of approach, we begin to find light upon many Bible facts and problems that are otherwise enshrouded in darkness. There are some highly important and central aspects of the Scripture and of Hebrew history that cannot be thought through clearly without reference to the idea of the social mechanism. The modern view of the Hebrew nation is, that it could not possibly have originated in the Arabian desert, as described in the Hexateuch, but that its characteristic form is due to the gradual fusion of two races which were at first hostile to each other.1 The modern view of Hebrew history is corroborated by certain passages found here and there in the Hexateuch itself (Deut. 7:22; Josh. 13:1-6, 13; 15:63; 16:10; 17:11-13; 23:4, 5, 12, 13, etc.). These inconspicuous verses and sentences do not agree with the central standpoint of the Hexateuch. But they are in harmony with Judges and Samuel, and evidently come from the same ancient documents that constitute the body of those works. For another interesting study of the two views, read Ps. 44:1-3, and then Ps. 106:34-40. We shall take up the interesting subject of the making of the Old Testament in Part II. CHAPTER III PLAN OF THE PRESENT STUDY At the present time, any new book dealing with the problem of the Bible is likely to come into the hands of an intelligent and growing class of persons whose needs and interests ought to be borne carefully in mind by any author who enters this field. Large numbers of laymen are today in revolt against many of the older statements of doctrine. Such persons are in possession of normal intelligence and mental competence. But for various good and sufficient reasons, it has not yet come in their way to understand what has already been done by scholarship to meet their difficulties. They cannot be moved by the mere word of "authority" (the world is fast emerging from that stage); and they can be influenced only through an appeal to their intelligence and the discipline of their mental powers along new lines of thought. The professional reader may be presumed to be able to take care of himself. We shall now deal with the presuppositions which underlie the foregoing chapters. It may be taken for granted that the method thus far pursued has caused the non-professional reader to ask certain questions which we may now turn aside to consider. The foremost of these questions will have related to the making of the Bible. We have seen incidentally that the Bible, in its present form, is not contemporary with the events described; and we are now ready to hear something about the literary nature of the Bible. The reader will also have asked, from time to time, certain questions about the social organization and habits of thought lying at the basis of Hebrew life and common to the Semitic peoples; and we are therefore now ready to learn something about the ancient foundations which existed before the Bible religion arose. We want to know more about the civilization in which these remarkable events took place. The mile posts of our journey are more or less familiar; but the land through which we are traveling is a country of strange marvels;1 and we would pause by the way to investigate some of its aspects more closely. These matters we shall take up in the following division of our study, Part II, under the title, "Elements of the Bible Problem." In Part III, entitled, "Development of Bible Religion," we shall go systematically into the social process through which the religion of the Bible came into existence. The line of treatment there to be followed has been suggested in the Prefatory. In Part IV, "The Spread of Bible Religion," we shall take up the sociological phase of the relation between Judaism and Christianity, and consider the progress of the gospel of redemption through the Roman empire and mediaeval Europe. In Part V, "The Bible and Its Religion in the Modern World," we shall consider chiefly the social and economic aspects of the Reformation, the rise of higher criticism, and the reassertion of the social aspect of the Gospel. The program thus laid down must be held rigorously under control in order to be of the most benefit. Discussions of metaphysical and theological problems must be avoided; for they have no place in a course of scientific study like the present. I * This expression comes from a private letter to the writer. |