ents of a belief in one God the Creator. Their
theology was added to from age to age by a succession of prophets, all
working in one line of development, till it culminated in the
appearance of Jesus Christ, and then proceeded to expand itself over
the other races. Among them it has undergone two remarkable phases of
retrograde development--the one in Mohammedanism, which carries it
back to a resemblance to its own earlier patriarchal stage, the other
in Roman and Greek ecclesiasticism, which have taken it back to the
Levitical system, along with a strong color of paganism. Still its
original documents survive, and retain their hold on large portions of
the more enlightened Aryan nations, while through their means these
documents have entered on a new career of conquest among the Semites
and Turanians. They are, however, it must be admitted, among the Aryan
races of Europe, growing in a somewhat uncongenial soil; partly
because of the materialistic organization of these races, and partly
because of the abundant remains of heathenism which still linger among
them; and it is possible that they may not realize their full triumphs
over humanity till the Semitic races return to the position of
Abraham, and erect again in the world the standard of monotheistic
faith, under the auspices of a purified Christianity.

It follows from this hasty survey that it is the Semitic solution of
the question of origins, as contained in the Hebrew Scriptures, that
mainly concerns us; and in the first place we must consider the
foundation and historical development of this solution, as many
misconceptions prevail on these points. We may discuss these subjects
under the heads of the Abrahamic Genesis and the Mosaic Genesis, and
may in a subsequent chapter consider the results of these in the
Genesis of the later Scripture writers.

THE ABRAHAMIC GENESIS.

It has been a favorite theory with some learned men that the earlier
parts of the book of Genesis existed as ancient documents even in the
time of Moses, and were incorporated by him in his work, and attempts
have been made to separate, on various grounds, the older from the
newer portions. Until lately, however, these attempts have been
altogether conjectural and destitute of any positive basis of
archaeological fact. A new and interesting aspect has been given to
them by the recent readings of the inscriptions on clay tablets found
at Nineveh, and to which especial attention has been