T H E TORCH OF REASON, SILV ER TO N , OREGON. MARCH 23, 1899.
year we have confined our work in
moral philosophy to short lectures
and readings from such excellent
works as Susan W ixon’s ‘'R ight
Living,” Maxims of W ashington,
etc., but we hope next year to m ake
elements of moral philosophy «me
of the regular branches o f the pre-
paratory course ami the conduct of
students part of the test for grad-
uation.
Our industrial d ep artm en t m ust
be started as soon as we are in the
new building. Of course it takes
much labor and some money to
construct the necessary buildings
and get the ap p aratu s, but Secular-
ists, we are capable of no higher,
more philanthropic work th an
teaching our young F reethinkers
to be, not only m entally strong and
free, and m orally good and true,
but physically good for som ething,
The world is moving rapidly, and
those who ke^p up and become
good and useful citizens, m ust be
educated to work.
There is a glorious future for our
school and for those who will take
our places in this work of checking
the evil tide of ignorance and su ­
perstition when we are gone, if each
will but “ act well his p a rt”.
For the Torch of Reason.
L ig h t on
B ible H is to ry .
BY D. P R IE S T L E Y
The Christian Herald of March
8th has an article with the above
title, consisting mostly of an e x ­
tract from Dr. Sayce, the great
C hristian explorer and special
pleader, “ whose explorations and
w ritings have shed a Hood of light
upon the pages of holy w rit” . Dr.
Sayce savs th a t Dr. N arrilla has
discovered the site of the land of
Goshen.
Also th at Prof. P etrie’s
excavations at Tel-ed-Defuch have
uncovered the very bricks alluded
to by Jerem iah. These explorers
also say they have found the word
Israelite. Dr. Sayce says the d is­
covery of the tablets of Tel-el-
Arnorna has indirectly had an im-
portant bearing on the history of
the exodus:
“They have proved
th at Moses lived in a literary age,
and th at it would have been little
short of a m iracle if he had not
known how to w rite.”
They have not proved th a t Mo-
ses lived at all. There is nothing
on the m onum ents about Jacob, Jo
seph, Moses, or about the Israelites,
All these explorers have hunted
Egypt as with a fine-tooth comb,
and not a trace of an Israelite has
been found.
All the pictures, in
bible dictionaries and S unday-
school literature, of the E gyptian
mouuments and inscriptions are
simply a blind.
W hy did not I)r.
>ayce say th at Moses, being edu-
cated as a priest, it would have
been a m iracle if he had not known
how to m ake snakes out of stick s
and lice out of dirt?
Mr. Bennett, recent p asto r of the
M ethodist church at Newburg, said
th a t Dr. Sayce had found the nam es
of Jacob and Joseph on the monu-
m ents, but he noted th a t each name
had an “ 1” at the end, which is sup-
posed to be a title of honor. We
m ust rem em ber th at the ancient
Hebrew alphabet had no vowels,
and th a t these names are supposed
to have been transferred into Egyp-
tian hieroglyphics. Then we would
have Y-k-b-1 spells Jacob, and
¥-s-f-l spells Joseph. After all the
great learning, labor and expense,
the success of these erudite explor-
ers in finding corroborative proof
to identify Bible m ythology with
history, is the sam e as the boy’s
progress in catching mice, l'he
boy sai.l he was doing well— when
he got the one he was after and two
more he would have three.
Dr. Sayce affirms, “ It would be
antecedently im probable th at any
reference a t ail would be made on
the m onum ents of E gypt to the de­
scendants of Jacob.” T hat is the-!
ological logic.
It was im probable!
th a t we should find any evidence
of the existence of the Israelites in I
Egypt; hence, the fact th a t we find
no such evidence proves th a t the
Israelites were there.
Then, of
course, if we should ever find evi­
dence th at they were there it would
prove th at they were not there!
W hat a blessed thing it is that
our holy religion can be established
by the abeeuce of proof! Because
if it required any fa c to r reasonable
evidence it could not be established
at all. “ Blessed are they who have
not seen and yet have believed.”
The learned and erudite explor­
ers are not agreed as to when the
children of Jacob went into Egypt,
when they came out, or how long
they staid there.
The Hebrew
chronology makes their sojourn 430
years, the S eptaugint 215 years, and
the m onum ents do not m ention
them a t all. They not only cannot
tell what kings were reigning d u r­
ing the time, hut they are unable
to fix the dynasty. But, thank ihe
Lord! they have found Egypt, the
land of Goshen and some bricks,;
and Dr. Dawson thinks lie has lo-
cated the place where Moses cut the
Red Sea in two with ’a stick, and
if the exploration funds do not play
out they will find some sand where
Moses put the E gyptian he had
m urdered, and o.ne
bulrushes,
which will prove the story of the
hiding of the in fan t Moses.
Let us watch and pray.
------ -------------
Secularists would you not like to
have some letterheads printed with
Secular sentim ent an d W ettstein’s
Freethought badge, to use in corre-
spondence with your friends? We
will furnish them to you with
your nam e and address printed on
them for 75 cents per hundred,
61.50 for 250, or $2.50 for 500, post
paid. Let the people know where
you stand.
The
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