The Origin and Permanent Value of the Old Testament | Page 2

preacher and teacher is apathetic and the motive a sense of duty rather than an intelligent acquaintance with its real character and genuine admiration and enthusiasm for its vital truths. The irresistible fascination which has drawn many of the most brilliant scholars into the Old Testament field is a proof that it has lost nothing, of its power and attractiveness. Already the circle of those who have rediscovered the Old Testament is rapidly broadening. Observation and experience confirm the conviction that all that is lacking to make that devotion universal is a right attitude toward it and an intelligent familiarity with its real origin, contents, and teachings. The sooner this is realized the sooner some of the most difficult problems of the Church, of the Sunday-school, and of popular religious education will be solved.
As the repository of a great and varied literature, as a record of many of the most important events in human history, and as a concrete revelation of God's character and will through the life and experiences of a race and the hearts of inspired men, the Old Testament has a vital message marvellously adapted to the intellectual, moral, social, and spiritual needs of to-day and supremely fitted to appeal to the thought and imagination of the present age.
This little volume is intended to be simply a very informal introduction to it. Since of the two Testaments the New is by far the more easily understood and the better known, it is made the point of departure in the approach to the more complex field represented by the Old. Many unexpected analogies will aid in understanding the intricate literary history of the older Scriptures. The point of view assumed throughout is that of the busy pastor, missionary, Sunday-school teacher, and scholar, who have little time for technical study, but who are not afraid of truth because it is new and who firmly believe that God is ever revealing himself more fully to men and that his truth shall make us free. It is hoped that this general survey will prove for them but an introduction to a far deeper and more profitable study.
To the Reverend J.F. McFarland, D.D., of the Bible Study Union, to the Reverend S.A. Cooke, D.D., of the Methodist Book Concern, to Mr. John H. Scribner of the Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sunday-school Work, to the Reverend M.C. Hazard, D.D., of the Pilgrim Press, and to the Reverend F.K. Sanders, Ph.D., of the Congregational Sunday-school and Publishing Society, who have generously read the manuscript of this book, I am deeply indebted, not only for their valuable suggestions, but also for their strong expressions of personal interest in the practical ends which it seeks to conserve, I am also under great obligation to the Reverend Morgan Miller, of Yale, for his untiring vigilance in revising the proof of a volume written within the all too brief limits of a Christmas vacation.
C.F.K.
YALE UNIVERSITY,
January, 1906.

CONTENTS
I. THE ECLIPSE AND REDISCOVERY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
II. THE REAL NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
III. THE EARLIEST

CHAPTERS
IN DIVINE REVELATION
IV. THE PLACE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN DIVINE REVELATION
V. THE INFLUENCES THAT PRODUCED THE NEW TESTAMENT
VI. THE GROWTH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETIC HISTORIES
VII. THE HISTORY OF THE PROPHETIC SERMONS, EPISTLES, AND APOCALYPSES
VIII. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLIER OLD TESTAMENT LAWS
IX. INFLUENCES THAT GAVE RISE TO THE PRIESTLY LAWS AND HISTORIES
X. THE HEBREW SAGES AND THEIR PROVERBS
XL THE WRITINGS OF ISRAEL'S PHILOSOPHERS
XII. THE HISTORY OF THE PSALTER
XIII. THE FORMATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON
XIV. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
XV. PRACTICAL METHODS OF STUDYING THE OLD TESTAMENT
XVI. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION--THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY

I
THE ECLIPSE AND REDISCOVERY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
[Sidenote: _Jesus' study of the Old Testament_]
The opening chapters of the Gospels record only three or four meagre facts regarding the first thirty years of Jesus' life. The real history of those significant years ran so far beneath the surface of external events that it completely escaped the historian. The history of the mental and spiritual life of the Master is recorded in his mature character and teachings. The fugitive hints, however, vividly illustrate the supreme fact that he ever _grew stronger, becoming filled with wisdom;--and the grace of God was upon him_ (Luke ii. 40). They reveal a soul not only in closest touch with God and with human life, but also in eager quest for the vital truth regarding God and man recorded in the Scriptures of his race. It requires no imagination to picture the young Jew of Nazareth eagerly studying in the synagogue, at the temple, and alone by himself the sacred writings found in our Old Testament, for this fact is clearly recorded on every page of the Gospels.
[Sidenote: _His familiarity with all parts of it_]
The events of Hebrew history, and its