xi. 8, in 2 Cor. xi. 3, in the Epistle to the
Ephesians, and elsewhere. In short, there are at least sixty-six
passages in the New Testament, in which the first eleven chapters of
Genesis are directly quoted or made the ground of argument. Of these,
six are by our Lord Himself, two being direct quotations;[1] six by St.
Peter, thirty-eight by St. Paul, seven by St. John, one by St. James,
two by St. Jude, two by the assembled apostles, three by St. Luke, and
one by St. Stephen.
[Footnote 1: St. Matt. xix. 4; St. Luke xvii. 27; and perhaps we might
add a third--St. Matt. xxiii. 35.]
We cannot, in fact, possibly avoid the conclusion that our Lord and His
apostles admitted the Divine origin and historical truth of these
chapters.
Therefore, we are bound as Christians to accept them, and that without
glossing or frittering away their meaning, when we have arrived, by just
processes, at what that meaning really is.
The fact just stated further warns us against accepting an indefinite
interpretation which, while it acknowledges the truth of the general
conclusion, still virtually, if not in so many words, allows that the
details may be wholly inaccurate.
CHAPTER XI.
_SCRIPTURE METHODS OF REVELATION_.
Passing, then, to a consideration of the explanations of the narrative
that may be or have been given at various times, I would first call
attention to the fact, that it seems in many instances to have been the
distinct purpose of Divine inspiration to allow the meaning of some
passages to be obscure; perhaps among other reasons, that men might be
compelled to study closely, to reason and to compare, and thus to become
more minutely acquainted with the record.
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