sented as a human being, whereas the Egyptian deities were pictured with the heads of animals as their emblems.

But even granted that all these opinions could be verified, they would prove anew only the following: Certain portions of ancient mankind recognized man's likeness to God in the myth that the blood of the "god" Adapa-Marduk had been used in producing man, and the healing, or in general redeeming, tendency of God. But this latter knowledge, manifest in the introduction to Assyrio-Babylonian adjuration of disease quoted above, and in the Egyptian myth of Osiris, plays only in the sphere of the physical. Is all that till now, according to the above survey, could be cited as Assyrio-Babylonian analogy to Old Testament prophetic discourses really prophecy-that is, declaration concerning the future? True, there is such a declaration contained in another cuneiform text which has recently been cited as an analogy to the Old Testament prophecies. In the Encyclopædia Biblica, vol. iii (1902), col. 3063, T. K. Cheyne quotes the following passage as "a Babylonian parallel" to "faith in the Messiah:" "Seacoast against seacoast, Elamite against Elamite, Cassite against Cassite, Kuthaan against Kuthæan, country against country, house against house, man against man. Brother is to show no mercy toward brother; they shall kill one another," and he adds: The countries mentioned are those nearest to Babylonia, which are to be a prey to war and anarchy until "after a time the Akkadian will come, overthrow all, and conquer all of them." He thinks the triumph of Hammurabi, the king of Babylonia, is foretold in this part of "poesy or prophecy." But all these are very inadequate elements (OTOXεia) compared with the rich and sublime structure of prophecy that we behold in the literature of the ancient Hebrews.

But the content of the prophecy of Israel is to be esteemed sublime, because it has its sphere proper in the domain of the religious and moral, inasmuch as it gives promise of the restoration of the natural harmony between God and the human heart as the final goal of God's course in history. This information shines forth for the first time in the profound passage bearing on the final subjection of the power hostile to God (Gen. iii, 15), and thenceforward star after star appears on the dark firmament of antique

religiosity. This sublimity was not lessened by the fact that the divine Spirit striding through history chose a single nation to be the nursery of true religion and morality, for together with the light of knowledge sent this nation its duties were augmented, and how often it groaned beneath the burden of its historic responsibility! Nor could the nobility of Old Testament prophecy suffer through the further fact, that the flames to which its finger pointed were alike the judgment fire for impiety and immorality and the rosy dawn of a more beautiful day for humility and moral purity. And, finally, the sublimity of Old Testament prophecy could not vanish when it was surpassed by the work of Him who proved himself a sovereign even in comparison with the prophets. No; meditation on Old Testament prophecy and New Testament reality only puts into our mouth the words with which I closed The Exile's Book of Consolation: "Prophecy is like the rosy dawn which ushers in the day. The prophetic word is 'a light which shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts' (2 Pet. i, 19). Prophecy is as trustworthy as the dawn certainly kisses the hem of the sun's robe. Moreover, were there no dawn there would be no day, and the soft glow of the morning red prepares the eye for the brighter light and cheers the heart that yearns for the day. not the blazing day-star itself. Sun assumes his radiant sway."

But the rosy hue of morning is Aurora pales when the monarch

But if from this point we cast a summary view upon the subject discussed we can but say: It will not occur to any sensible person to decry the effort of the Babylonians in behalf of human culture. Nowhere has this been more willingly recognized than in my book Bibel und Babel, tenth edition, p. 20-22. But if anyone exclaims: "How thoroughly homogeneous everything in Babel and Bible is!" and when there is silence concerning the difference of the level of Assyrio-Babylonian prophecy and that of Israelitish prophecy, then we must feel ourselves constrained to protest in the name of historic reality.

Ed. Rönig,

ART. VII.-THE VALUE OF THE STUDY OF SCIENCE FOR MINISTERS.

THE minister, by virtue of his profession, is expected to be master of all realms of knowledge that throw any light upon man's origin, duty, or destiny. In common with all men he may gratify intellectual curiosity, develop mental power, and enrich his general equipment by excursions into many fields of thought, but his professional duties require of him the mastery of all that helps in the understanding of man or in the apprehension of God. He is not at liberty to say of anything God has made, done, or permitted to be done, "I do not know," till he has used all diligence in the effort to know. Self-respect forbids that he should have so little energy as to live in a house without going into the cellar and garret, as well as into the kitchen and parlor, that he may know what provision infinite love and wisdom have made for the happiness of the race; gratitude and love to the giver, as well as duty to his fellow-occupants, certainly require him to explore and find out what kind of a world the Lord has fitted up for his abode, and what use may be made of its resources to further his purposes. is of the nature of disloyalty for him to leave the friends of unrighteousness to discover these treasures and turn them against the designs of their Maker. As "stewards of the mysteries of God" it is our first duty to know all that may be known about them, that we may expound them to others and defend them from the attacks of enemies. To live in God's world without being able to lead the inquiring young through its various apartments with intelligent explanations of its structure, apartments, and adaptations is worthy only of an intellectual and moral sluggard. It lies in the very nature of the ministerial office, and is involved in loyalty to God as his ambassador, that the minister should be able to expound the words and works of God and give a fairly comprehensive view of the divine procedure in this world. We might therefore go beyond the question of value, and show that the study of science belongs to the very essence and integrity of ministerial

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character and function. It is a one-sided equipment and service that deals only with the written word of God. His works as truly as his word are from him, and they are the best comment on his word. The word has passed through many human hands, through hands of transcribers and translators: but the works of God stand to-day as they left his hand, original and uncorrupted.

The study of science enables the minister to vitalize the material universe as the creature and habitation of God. The intellectual and spiritual power to bring God near, to make all visible things throb with his life, to be able to point to his footprint on stone, leaf, and flower, and to read the records of his doing in the heavens and in the hidden places of the earth till all things seem to constitute one great temple of the Lord Almighty, is very important for the preacher. The deepest philosophy, as well as the finest poetic and moral feeling, stands reverent before the spectacle of nature's ceaseless activities, certain of an invisible worker there that must be God, or one so like to him as to differ only in name. The impiety of the world has crowded God out of the material, out of the business, and out of the social world, and has relegated him to a little corner called the Church; it is the duty of the minister to bring him back into the temple that belongs to him and enthrone him in the midst of his works as "Lord of all." To do this he must himself be thrilled and inspired by such an apprehension of God, in and over all things, as comes from the thorough, reverent study of his works; he must have his mind filled and thrilled with the facts of nature and of the Gospel, and in his own deep conviction and reverent feeling fuse them into one living message of truth to men. Since the study of science by itself tends toward skepticism, it is imperative to unite these two lines of study, that Gospel truth may sanctify science and science broaden and vitalize Gospel truth and the minister become a living example of the possible union of the two in one person. We shall counteract the skeptical tendencies by studying, understanding, and spiritualizing the field, not by anathematizing it. The Master constantly appealed to nature, and wove into incomparable parables the scientific knowledge of the times; he used the visible and the palpable to help the understanding in grasping the in

visible and the spiritual. He kept close to nature, held it close to God, and made it vocal with the declaration of spiritual truth. For wisdom of method and energy of force he is the model teacher for all who have minds large enough and hearts warm enough to translate into human speech the message of truth that lies locked up in nature. The immanence of God in all his work must be seen and felt by the preacher, as well as believed, if he is to deliver to the world the full message he was sent to give. And the study of science will aid the minister in developing a well-balanced mind. Nothing adds more to the weight and influence of a preacher than the conviction that he has a well-balanced mind, that he has looked on all sides of the subject he is treating and of all related subjects, and that, having mastered the whole field, he is presenting wellconsidered conclusions. If he become the mere hawker of secondhand phrases on well-worn themes; if he is one-idead, if he treats of only one segment of truth and is unable to connect it with the whole circle of human knowledge, he is discredited with intelligent listeners and loses influence with all classes. Study on one theme or on one class of subjects tends to produce a lop-sided, one-idead mind, a thinker that may not be safely followed. Hence come our theological and denominational bigots, our specialists, ranting advocates of a single idea-a pestiferous brood that has done the truth much damage.

It is important to distinguish between studying science and preaching science. The one is a question of intellectual balance, discipline, and furnishing; the other is a question of professional fidelity and stands related to character. An honest man will do that for which he is employed, the thing he engages to do; if it is to preach the Gospel he may use science or politics to illustrate it, but not as a substitute for it. It is half-educated and imperfectly developed minds, minds that do not know the real or relative greatness of themes, that substitute science for the Gospel; a real scholar, a deep thinker, must forever see the superiority of Gospel truths to the facts or theories of science. The thorough mastery of science, if it is not attended with the neglect of Bible study, will only throw additional light on the greatness of the Gospel and make its superiority the more manifest. The study of language, of mathe