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atUh <* N * ** . ^ g Wne H , and to decide Hf ^ w it ffdfc ^ fid &elf * , >?¦ This maxim has already to a certain extent be € ii acted upon , and a variety of circtmistatieea have led to the conclusion , that the book of Genesis may be a human production y or , in other words , tliat it jb ay have originated in
human sources ^ and been handed down from generation to generation by means of oral traditions or scriptural records . And truly , could it even be proved that it were grounded on the former alone , still would I frail it as an important document , and its source should be ever sacred to me : for if
we feel inclined * once for all * to admit the longevity of the patriarchs , ( which , however , it must be owned , is liable to serious objections , ) it must also be allowed , that m the earliest periods of the world the pure stream of historical information could not easily , or to any great extent , be adulterated by the accession of turbid waters . And
as Lameeh may have been contemporary with Adam , and Shem with Lamech ; again , as Laraech may have seen Abraham , and the latter have been seen by Jacob ; further , as riaatiy of the contemporaries of Moses may have personally known Jacob , —it
follows , first , that oral tradition , originating in the earliest ages of mankind , could not have passed through the mouths of many different persons , and was therefore less liable to change or perversion ; and , secondly , that more recent traditions extending downwards
to the days of Moses , could not have been circulated for # ny great length of time without being scripturally recorded , and without their genuineness having been determined by actual
reference to the Dartv ^ with whom the v ierence to the party ^ with whom they originated , or to some other credible a uthority . But , although tbe credibility of the narratives contained In the book of
genesis , would An ho wise be diminished by their haviiig been compiled from oral traditions at the time of Moses , the general character , and , if i may use 3 ie Expression , the very genius of the book itself does not
warrant its % e&fe Scribed to such a source . Oh ^ tTi ^ fepiatraiy , every thing ™ it seems fcteaMV ; to * b * 6 ve tlfc use of senpturaf tkcrfm ^ qM # Kfet ls tn 6 r % , eve * speaks f 0 f % MBexng a ctfrnrila-*<* of Mimtitt &oto senateWl
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distinct documents . Nor has this observation escaped the notice of various writfers distinguished by their critical acumen y but either their predilection for a certain system prevented them from pursuing the advantages to be
derived from it , or the gleam of truth which dawned upon them was too weak and too quickly lost again in the clouds by which it was surrounded , to admit of their tracing the discovery
which they had made throughout the whole book . * Astruc , a celebrated physician , at length effected what no critic by profession had previously ventured to do , and actually divided the whole book of Genesis into
distinct fragments . In my turn , I have also made a similar attempt , but to
* Writers on this subject are—Vitringa ^ Observ . Sacc . Lib . i . C . 111 . pp . 29 , seq . ; Clericus , de Scriptore Pentateuchi , § 11 ; R . Simon , Histoire Critique du V . T . Lib . i . C . vii . ; Fleury , Moeurs des Israelites , p . 6 ; Le Frangoisy Preuves de la Religion Chre ' tienne , T . 1 . P . ii . C . iii . Art . 1 . Detached ideas on this subject may be also fo und in Jq . And . Si t * , Dissert , de Origine Histor . Creatiouis , quam Moses dedit , Altorf , 1782 , 4 to . ( Astruc ) Conjectures sur les Memoires Originaux dont
ii paroit que Moyse s est servi pour composer le Livre de la Genese , a Bruxelles , 1753 , 8 vo . Jerusalem follows him ( but briefly ) in his Letters oq the Mosaic Writings and Philosophy . To these may be added , a Dissertation of Schultens , which , however , contains nothing peculiar or
new : Jo . Jac . Schultensy Dissert * qua disquiritur uude Moses res in Libro Geneseos descriptas didicerit . See the game reprinted in Jo . Oelrich * s Belgii Litterati Opusculis Historico - PhiloJogico-Theoiogicis , T . I . pp . 247 , et seq .
Of all the authors here quoted , none has entered so deeply into the subject as Astruc . Ilgen has since treated upon it very elaborately in his work on the Original State of the Documents belonging to the Archives in the Temple of
Jerusalem , 1 vol . Halle , 1798 , 8 vo ., although his excessive minuteness ( however laudable in itself ) gives him the ap |> earaiic © « f wishing to do more than at present it is possible to do * I must leave it , to the reader to choose between his work and
tht * present attempt , requesting him , at the same time , to peruse the reviews of the former in the Allgemeine Xittei ^ atur ZeitUDg , ( Jena , 1 79 ^ 1 , aftd In CSabler ^ s Theolog , Journal , " ;\ wnere he will find much useful mfdtmatkm on the subject generally .
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vol . xvii . 3 r
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Mlchhorri ' s Aeoount of the Book of Genesis 483
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1822, page 489, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2515/page/33/
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