Twelve Studies on The Making of a Nation The Beginnings of Israel's History BY CHARLES FOSTER KENT JEREMIAH WHIPPLE JENKS NEW YORK 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. If we be ignorant, the Scriptures will instruct us; if out of the way, they will bring us home; if out of order, they will reform us; if in heaviness, comfort us; if dull, quicken us; if cold, inflame us.—King James's Revisers, 1611. CONTENTS The Rediscovery of the Bible. The Object of These Studies. The Plan of 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. PAGE 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 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 Pre- 1. The Two Biblical Accounts of the Flood. 2. The Corresponding Baby- 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 Prophetic Stories about Abraham. 2. The Meaning of the Early Prophetic Stories about Abraham. 3. The Prophetic Portrait of Abraham. 4. The Tendency to Idealize National Heroes. 5. The Reasons for Migration. 6. The Permanent Value and Influence of the Abraham 1. The Two Brothers. Jacob and Esau. 2. The Man with a Wrong Ambi- tion. 3. Jacob's Training in the School of Experience. 4. The Invincible Power of Ambition and Perseverance. 5. The Different Types of Ambition. 6. The Development of Right Ambitions. 1.4The Qualities Essential to Success. 2. The Limitations and Tempta- tions of Joseph's Early Life. 3. The Call of a Great Opportunity. 4. The Temptations of Success. 5. The Standards of Real Success. 6. The ν |