not allow anyone to read the
_Old Testament_, unless he were firmly anchored in the practice of a
virtuous life; he affirms too that Saint Basilius, in a letter to
Chilon, the monk, stated that the reading of it often had a harmful
influence; for the same reasons, the _Index expurgatorius_ forbids the
publication of the Bible in the vulgar tongue, and orders that no one
be allowed to read it without the written permission of his
confessor.[148]

A third difficulty arises from the fact that the Old Testament--its dead
"letter" and its commandments, at all events--is no longer suitable to
our own race. It was intended for a nation that was composed of young
souls, at a low stage of evolution, for whom nothing more than the
rudiments of instruction were necessary, and on whom stern rules of
morality, suitable for advanced souls, ought not to be imposed. This is
why divorce,[149] polygamy,[150] slavery,[151] retaliation, _lex
talionis_,[152] the blood of sacrifice[153] are instituted; it is the
reason God is represented as a being to be dreaded, punishing those who
do not obey him, wicked, jealous, bloodthirsty.[154] Bossuet understood
all this when he said that the primitive Hebrew race was not
sufficiently advanced to have the immortality of the soul taught to it.
This, too, is the only explanation we can find for the sensual
materialism of _Ecclesiastes_.[155]

Consequently one need not be astonished to find that the Old Testament
nowhere deals--directly, at all events--with the doctrine of Rebirth.

All the same, here and there we come across a few passages that point
in this direction. For instance, we read in _Genesis_, chapter 25,
regarding the birth of Jacob and Esau:

"And the children (of Rebecca) struggled together within her.

"And the Lord said unto her: Two nations are in thy womb, and two
manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one
people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall
serve the younger.

"And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold there were
twins in her womb."

This passage has been the occasion of lengthy commentaries on the part
of certain Fathers of the Church--more especially of Origen. Indeed,
either we must acknowledge divine injustice, creating, without any
cause, two hostile brothers, one of whom must submit to the rule of
the other, and who begin to strive together even before birth, or we
must hark back to the pre-existence