The Making of a Nation

The Making of a Nation

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Making of a Nation
by Charles Foster Kent and Jeremiah Whipple Jenks This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Making of a Nation The Beginnings of Israel's History
Author: Charles Foster Kent and Jeremiah Whipple Jenks
Release Date: May 25, 2004 [EBook #12434]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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Produced by Al Haines

THE BIBLE'S MESSAGE TO MODERN LIFE
Twelve Studies on
The Making of a Nation
The Beginnings of Israel's History

BY

CHARLES FOSTER KENT JEREMIAH WHIPPLE JENKS

1912

The best of allies you can procure for us is the Bible. That will bring us the reality--freedom.--Garibaldi.
If the common schools have found their way from the Atlantic to the Pacific; if slavery has been abolished; if the whole land has been changed from a wilderness into a garden of plenty, from ocean to ocean; if education has been fostered according to the best lights of each generation since then; if industry, frugality and sobriety are the watchwords of the nation, as I believe them to be, I say it is largely due to those first emigrants, who, landing with the English Bible in their hands and in their hearts, established themselves on the shores of America.--_Joseph H. Choate_.
And, as it is owned, the whole scheme of Scripture is not yet understood, so, if it comes to be understood, it must be in the same way as natural knowledge is come at; by the continuance and progress of learning and liberty, and by particular persons attending to, comparing and pursuing intimations scattered up and down it, which are overlooked and disregarded by the generality of the world. Nor is it at all incredible that a book which has been so long in the possession of mankind should contain many truths as yet undiscovered.--Butler.
Mr. Lincoln, as I saw him every morning, in the carpet slippers he wore in the house and the black clothes no tailor could make really fit his gaunt, bony frame, was a homely enough figure. The routine of his life was simple, too; it would have seemed a treadmill to most of us. He was an early riser, when I came on duty at eight in the morning, he was often already dressed and reading in the library. There was a big table near the centre of the room: there I have seen him reading many times. And the book? It was the Bible which I saw him reading while most of the household slept.--_William H. Crook_, in _Harper's Magazine_.
The Bible has such power for teaching righteousness that even to those who come to it with all sorts of false notions about the God of the Bible, it yet teaches righteousness, and fills them with the love of it; how much more those who come to it with a true notion about the God of the Bible.--Matthew Arnold.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
The Rediscovery of the Bible. The Object of These Studies. The Plan of Work. Books of Reference.
STUDY I. MAN'S PLACE IN THE WORLD. The Story of Creation, Gen. 1, 2
1. The Different Theories of Creation. 2. The Priestly Story of Creation. 3. The Early Prophetic Story of Creation. 4. A Comparison of the Two Accounts of Creation. 5. Man's Conquest and Rulership of the World. 6. Man's Responsibility as the Ruler of the World.
STUDY II. MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS ACTS. The Story of the Garden of Eden, Gen. 3
1. The Nature of Sin. 2. The Origin of Sin According to the Story in Genesis 3. 3. The Different Theories Regarding the Origin of Sin. 4. The Effects of Sin upon the Wrong-doer. 5. God's Attitude toward the Sinner. 6. The Effect of Sin upon Society.
STUDY III. THE CRIMINAL, AND HIS RELATION TO SOCIETY. The Story of Cain, Gen. 4:1-16
1. The Meaning of the Story of Cain. 2. The Making of a Criminal. 3. The Criminal's Attitude toward Society. 4. The Ways in which Society Deals with the Criminal. 5. How to Deal with Criminals. 6. The Prevention of Crime.
STUDY IV. THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. The Story of the Great Flood, Gen. 6-9
1. The Two Biblical Accounts of the Flood. 2. The Corresponding Babylonian Flood Stories. 3. History of the Biblical Flood Stories. 4. Aim of the Biblical Writers in Recounting the Flood Stories. 5. The Survival of the "Fittest" in the Natural World. 6. In Social and Political Life.
STUDY V. THE PIONEER'S INFLUENCE UPON A NATION'S IDEAL. Abraham, the Traditional Father of the Race, Gen. 12:1-8; 13:1-13; 16; 18; 19; 21:1-7; 22:1-19
1. The Reasons for Migration. 2. The Prophetic Stories about Abraham. 3.