It is indeed a wonderful
book, in parts the oldest which has come down to us, a book
filled with rare knowledge, with history, with poetry, with
occultism, with folklore. But it has no connection with modern
conceptions of religion. In the main it is actually antagonistic
to them. Two contradictory codes have been circulated under
one cover, and the result is dire confusion. The one is a scheme
depending upon a special tribal God, intensely anthropomorphic
and filled with rage, jealousy and revenge. The conception
pervades every book of the Old Testament. Even in the psalms,
which are perhaps the most spiritual and beautiful section, the
psalmist, amid much that is noble, sings of the fearsome things
which his God will do to his enemies. "They shall go down alive
into hell." There is the keynote of this ancient document--a
document which advocates massacre, condones polygamy, accepts
slavery, and orders the burning of so-called witches. Its Mosaic
provisions have long been laid aside. We do not consider
ourselves accursed if we fail to mutilate our bodies, if we eat
forbidden dishes, fail to trim our beards, or wear clothes of two
materials. But we cannot lay aside the provisions and yet regard
the document as divine. No learned quibbles can ever persuade an
honest earnest mind that that is right. One may say: "Everyone
knows that that is the old dispensation, and is not to be acted
upon.
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