that of the Kings and Chronicles. It is conjectured from internal evidence, that Chronicles was probably compiled by Ezra, from Samuel, Kings, and possibly other documents, sometime after the return from the exile.

As to the Book of Ezra, it was shown that it is probably one of the most authentic books of the Old Testament, and written by the man whose name it bears. Nehemiah was also placed in the thoroly authentic class, with the admission that about one-fourth of the total contents of the book, appearing in the middle of it, is very probably an interpolation by a later, and unknown author. But this, he insists, does not detract from the divine inspiration and authenticity of the book as a whole.

Ruth and Esther also belong to the class of the unknown. Nobody knows who wrote either, nor when, nor where. Ruth is placed "probably sometime during the reign of David." Esther is much later; in fact it is one of the latest books in the Old Testament Canon, from which it was long excluded because the name of God nowhere appears in it. The historical events narrated in it are admitted to be of very doubtful authenticity, as they are nowhere else mentioned in the Bible, and are wholly unknown to secular history; and such events, if they occurred at all, were of such transcendent importance to the Jewish nation, that mention of them in the Chronicles, or by some of the prophets, could hardly have been omitted. But our author gets around all these difficulties by the Feast of Purim. He insists that such a memorial as this, that has been and still is celebrated annually by the Jews in all parts of the world, "since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary," could not possibly have originated in a mere fiction, and been perpetuated so long. Therefore, the Book of Esther must be true, and divinely inspired!

When I had read thus far, in spite of my former simple faith in the divine inspiration and infallible truth of the Bible, I found myself clearly on the toboggan; and I was deeply disturbed in mind. I was studying a thoroly orthodox author, a distinguished professor in one of our leading colleges, whose book was approved by the bishops of my church; a book clearly written for the purpose of defending the traditional position of the church concerning the Bible, on almost every page of which that I had thus far read, I found a series of apologetics rather than arguments; with constant admissions of the world's total ignorance of the origin, authorship and date of most of the books of the Bible thus far reviewed. I began to wonder, if this was what I was getting from such a source, inspired by such a motive, what might I expect from a Biblical scholar and critic who was in search only of abstract truth, with no preconceived opinions to support or defend? I felt an incipient revolution brewing in my mind. But I was yet to learn more.

Concerning the poetical books, I found that the Book of Job was not written by Job; that nobody knows who wrote it, nor when nor where. I found that conjecture by different scholars placed it all the way from "before Moses" to after the exile. Nobody knows whether it purports to record, in poetic form, a series of actual historic facts and events; or whether it is merely a dramatic allegory, entirely fictitious, or founded upon some substratum of fact. We do not know who Job was, whether a Hebrew, an Arab, or Chaldean;—nor just where "the land of Uz" was.

Concerning the Psalms, which I had always been taught were written by David, "the sweet singer of Israel," I found to be the Jewish hymn book, compiled by an unknown hand, or hands, at an unknown date; but in its present form, perhaps as late as the third century B.C.; that the authorship of very few of them is known; that David wrote but few of them, if any; but that they were written by various authors, mostly unknown, ranging all the way from the time of Moses to that of Ezra, or later; that collections and revisions were probably made from time to time as new compositions appeared; until its present form was attained.

I found that the "Book of Proverbs" was not written by Solomon, but that it was probably compiled in the time of King Hezekiah, by unknown persons. However, our author insists that most of the proverbs in the collection are Solomonic in origin; and therefore we may very correctly speak of the collection as the "Proverbs of Solomon."

The Book of Ecclesiastes, from the superscription in Chapter I, verses 1 and 12, always attributed to Solomon, I found was not written by Solomon, at all, nor until more than five hundred years after his death. Our author concedes it to be the "latest book of the Canon"; that it could not have been written before Malachi, and possibly much later, and who wrote it, nobody knows.

Likewise I found that the "Song of Solomon" was not written by Solomon, nor by anyone else until centuries after his death; and nobody knows who wrote it, nor what its real meaning or purport is, whether fact or fiction, spiritual or sensual. It is admitted that its real meaning and purport is the most obscure and mysterious of any book in the Old Testament, yet, as it is in the Bible it must be the divinely inspired, infallible word of God! So our author thinks.

Coming now to the Prophetic Books, I learned from our author that the Book of Isaiah, as it now appears, is a collection and compilation of various writings of this great prophet, written piece-meal over a period of some fifty years, and after his death collected and arranged in its present form by some unknown hand; and that the present arrangement was made without any reference to the chronological order of the original writings, or the subject matter treated. He admits the radical difference in style, manner and subject matter of the two parts of this book, upon which modern critics have based their theory of two Isaiahs, one living before and the other during the captivity, and reconciles these discrepancies by asserting the power of God to miraculously change the literary style of his servants at will.

About the same thing is said of the Book of Jeremiah what was said of Isaiah; that it is a collection of the writings of the prophet, made after his death, by some unknown person, but more probably by Baruch; and that like Isaiah the contents of this book are arranged without reference to their chronological order. Great differences are admitted to exist between the Hebrew and Septuagint versions of this book, which our author does not try to explain or reconcile. He frankly admits that the last chapter of this book, which is identical with 2 Kings xxiv, 18, and xxv, was added by a later, and unknown hand.

The Book of Ezekiel is treated briefly and considered one of the most authentic and unquestioned of any book in the Canon. But the author devotes twenty-six pages to the Book of Daniel, almost entirely to prove that the book was written by the prophet of that name in Babylon, during the exile. He quotes elaborately from the critics who hold to a later date and a different author, and tries to refute them. About the only effect produced on my mind was that neither party knew anything definite about it; and of course my faith in the authenticity of the book was greatly weakened.

Coming to the Minor Prophets, twelve in number, the author holds that Hosea, Joel, Amos, Micah, Haggai, Zephaniah and Zechariah were well known prophets, concerning the date and authorship of whose books there is no grave doubt. Yet, he admits that there are manifest interpolations and additions to the Book of Zechariah. Of Nahum, Habakkuk, Malachi and Obadiah he admits that we know absolutely nothing, except what is written in their respective books, and the dates they were written can only be conjectured from their contents. Obadiah is composed of but one chapter of twenty-one verses, and almost identically the same thing is contained in Jeremiah xlix, 7-22. The identity is so great that our author assumes that one of them copied from the other, but which, he does not say. Of the Book of Jonah, he admits that