An Interesting Theory.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3987, 8 October 1881, Page 1

An Interesting Theory.

In the April number of the Dublin. Review the Bishop of Clifton Hires 'a theory exlpaininfc tbe days of the Mosaic account of the Creation in a manner that we find most interesting. He tells us the national superstitions of the Egyptians were so mixed up. with their every-day actions, that the Jews by their residence among them had become familiarised with idolatrous 'habits, and many of the ritual laws of Moses were framed for the purpose of making^the people lorget the habits in question. Amongst other things the calendar of the Egyptians fur* nished them with a constant memorial of their false gods; and they boasted that they themselves were the only nation who had consecrated each month and, day to a particular deity; tbe seven days of the week were referrd by them to the seven planets. The worship of the " host of Heaven '\ was still more observed in Palestine where these Jews were going, and hence it became necessary to " make each day tell of one God, creator of all things, in tbe same way as the heathens had made the days minister to the belief that there ; were many gods and many lords." The method adopted by Moses for accomplish* ing this was that of dedicating each day of the week to the memory of some work of creation as the Egyptians had dedicated the days of the month to tbe fabled action of their gods, "It is this consecration of the days of the week to the memory of the Creation, and not a history of the days of Creation, that forms the subject of the first chapter of Genesis." Nor is this theory invalidated by the distinct statements that certain works were done by God on specific days. In historical writings such statements must be understood to imply that the events took place actually as described,. but in writings of a ritual nature this rule does not hold good, and. there arc many instances that prove such to be the case. One much to the point is that in the Egyptian calendar itself "the five intercalary days at the close of the year are described as the birthdays of the fire greater divinities ; yet in their mythology the Egyptians did not tench that those personages were born on the last five days of the year. It was convenient to consecrate those days to the celebration of the birth of those deities, and the days were accordingly said to be, their birth days." It is commonly assumed that the first chapter of Genesis is historical, but there are no grounds tor such a belief. "It is not a history, but a Sacred Hymn recording the consecration ot each day of the week to the memory of the work done by the Creator of heaven

and earth. .. . The poetic character of this first portion of tbe Bible has been recognised by many. The learned Father Pianciani writes as follows:—" Others - bare remarked that the language of the first chapter of Genesis is figurative, and to a certain extent poetical. We do not assert that is rvthmical; some people have said so. Be this as it may the colouring and imagery savour of poetry. God speakes and makes His Toice heard by inanimate beings, and these understand and obey it. God sees the light. and bis other works, and like a craftsman pleased with what he has done, he approves of it. It would almost seem as if this were a canticle or traditional hymn inscribed by Moses at the. head of his books. Poetry in its origin was eminently religious; and the hymn, the traditional song, proceeding by metaphor, is, accord* ing to Frederick Schlege, the most ancient form of poetry.' Speaking of verse 27 of this same chapter, Keil says :—ln the account of the accomplishment, of the divine purpose the words swell into a jubilant song, so that we meet here tor the first time with &parallelismm verborum the creation of man beiug celebrated in three parallel clauses. % God created wan in bis own image, In the ionise ot Gh>d created H him, Mule and female created He them.

Nor is there anything singular in the fact of Moses having written a hymn on the creation. One of the fragments discovered by Mr Smith at .Nineveh, and which he had supposed to contain an account of the Fall, hits been shown by Dr Oppert to be in reality a hymn to the creator Hea." The first chapter of Genesis then, forms no portion of the book it precedes; its verses " constitute a composition complete in,itself. They are a Sacred Hymn recording the consecration of each day of the week to the memory of one or other of the works done by the true God,' Creator of heaven and earth, in opposition to a custom established by the Egyp'tinn priests, of referring the days of. the week to the sun moon, and planets, and of constcratinij each day of the month to 1 the memory of the actions of fal>e deities. The hymn, when examined by the H«ht which a knowledge of the customs of Egypt, such as may at the present day be derived from the monuments and records of that country, throws upon it, shows how carefully its details have been Jirraneed for the purpose of guarding against those special dangers of idolatry to which the Israelites were exposed at the time of their delivery from Egyptian bondage; thus affording an indirect but' valuable confirmation of the fact that Moses was its author. This hymn, not being a history of creation, but a ritual work, the statements contained in it mnst be interpreted in the sense in which similar statements are understood when they occur in writings of a ritual character. When it is said tbat certain works were performed on certain days of the week, nothing more is implied' than that those days are consecrated to the memory of the works referred to. Subject to this provisio the words of Moses are to be understood in their usual sense and present ho special difficulty."—N.Z. Tablet.