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ANENT ARCHAEOLOGY AND RELIGION

DR. EDGAR, one of the leading physicians of Glasgow, Scotland, sends us the following letter:—

DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:—

As many good people think that the dates which are accepted by archaeologists must be more reliable than those furnished in the Scriptures, it is important that we should be aware of the true value of the proofs which satisfy these scientific men. The following extract is to the point:—”DATE OF SARGON.—Sargon, King of Akkad, reigned about 3800 B.C. This is the first date in the world’s history about which there is no serious dispute. This date is made certain by an inscription of Nabonidos, the last native King of Babylon, who was a zealous restorer of ruined temples. He tells us that he succeeded in reaching the foundation stone of the ancient temple of the Sun in Sippar, a stone which the great Nebuchadnezzar had sought in vain to find. Under it was the seal-cylinder of the founder of the temple, Naram-Sin, son of Sargon, which, says Nabonidos, had not been seen for ‘thrice a thousand, twice a hundred years.’ The date of the discovery of this corner-stone was about 550 B.C. We thus reach 3750 B.C. as the date of Naram-Sin, and by adding fifty years for the reign of Sargon we get 3800 B.C.” (Babylonia and Assyria. By Ross G. Murison, M.A., B.D. One of the Bible Class Primers edited by Principal Salmond, D.D., Aberdeen).

Surely no one but an archaeologist would accept such a statement as was made by this heathen king without demanding clear proof as to its truth!

ANOTHER ITEM OF INTEREST, CONFIRMING STATEMENTS OF DAWN VI., CHAPTER X.

In the “Zentralblatt fur Gynaekologie” of 8th October, 1904, there is an article on “The Intra-uterine

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Baptism of Human Ova and Foetuses.” The author begins by referring to the war engaged in by Dr. Treub, a Dutch professor of Midwifery, against the theological obscurantism which would allow a mother to die when the induction of abortion might have the effect of saving her life. An article, entitled “The Right to Life of the Unborn Child,” written by Dr. Treub, has been translated into English by the Rev. C. van der Donckt, of New York. To this translation the reverend gentleman adds an appendix in which he declares that in such cases the intra-uterine baptism of the ovum or the child is obligatory. He refers to a case to which a friend of his, an American physician, was called. The woman’s life was saved by the removal of her three-month’s child from the uterus. “Tormented by the family and the first physician, our friend, still hesitating, explains to a venerable Jesuit father the reasons which make him propose to apply to this case a new method, which permits the baptism of the infant. This therapeutic process, formerly impossible, but without danger since the discovery of the antiseptic treatment, has for its object to open quickly the orifice of the matrix by the natural ways and to allow the injection of an abundant stream of baptismal water by means of a suitable instrument: the remaining operations of extraction which may be hurtful to the life of the germ are carried out afterward. It is admitted, in effect, that baptism in utero by injection is not only allowed but obligatory when the physician is certain that, despite all his efforts, the child will die during delivery. As the reasons were considered valid by his counsellor, the physician was enabled thanks to the method employed (special metallic instruments) to open gently the matrix (in a minute and a half) sufficiently to make the baptismal injection also done gently; then he quickly completed the thorough extraction of everything contained in the uterus.”

(It may be well for me to add that the method described is the one always followed nowadays by medical men. The novelty consists not in the injection but in the meaning attached to it).

We have much reason to thank the Lord that the Sun of Righteousness will now soon arise and dispel the fogs of theological obscurantism and of “science, falsely so called.”

Our eyes, dear Brother, are indeed blessed, for they see the light while the darkness is still covering the earth. This light is getting brighter and brighter as the perfect day draws near. We have much to be thankful for.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ever with you

I am, yours in the Lord,

JOHN EDGAR.

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— September 1, 1905 —