An Universal History, in a Series of Letters

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: that is to come. This is the people whose eminent men have been held up to us as more than mere human beings. Yet I trust that, by the help of God, who speaks through the history of past generations to the living, the truth will at last rise triumphant. But the task is not indeed an easy one, when palpable...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: that is to come. This is the people whose eminent men have been held up to us as more than mere human beings. Yet I trust that, by the help of God, who speaks through the history of past generations to the living, the truth will at last rise triumphant. But the task is not indeed an easy one, when palpable allegories have, by the presumptuous chiefs of the Christian church, been deemed real facts. Still Paul himself?who I suppose knew something of the real meaning of the ancient writings of the Hebrews?when speaking of Ishmael as born after the flesh, and Isaac by the promise, declares this to be an allegory, thus confirming the opinion that allegories are used in those writings. LETTER III. HISTORY OF JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS. the seed of Abraham had now become a family?a tribe?from the twelve sons of Israel it was to branch out into a nation. But most of Israel's sons very early evinced anything but a virtuous disposition worthy of such a distinction. Reuben. though not a very bad man, had committed a grievous injury against his father, whose affection he had thus lost; Simeon and Levi, faithless and blood-thirsty, had hazarded the peace and tranquillity of their father, and consequently became very obnoxious to him; and all of them, except Reuben, appear combined to commit a most cold-hearted fratricide; Judah, by his levity of manners, was led into another, though less culpable offence. Judah had contracted a friendship with a certain native of Adullain named Herah; and while on a visit to this person, fell in love with the daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah, whom he married, and by whom he had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. When the first of these became marriageable?long after Joseph was carried to Egypt?his father provided a wife for...