nother composite legend which has long
been mistaken for history.

The historical character of Moses has not been established, and it is
doubtful whether the name is that of an individual or that of a clan.
The story of his being exposed in an ark of bulrushes is a myth probably
derived from the similar and much earlier myth of Sargon.[L]

Turning to the New Testament, we find that modern critical research only
brings out more clearly than ever the extraordinary vagueness and
uncertainty which enshroud every detail of the narrative. From the
article on "Chronology" we learn that everything in the Gospels is too
uncertain to be accepted as historical fact. There are numerous
questions which it is "wholly impossible to decide". We do not know when
Jesus was born, or when he died, or who was his father, or what was the
duration of his ministry. As these are matters on which the Gospel
writers purport to give information, the fact of their failure to do so
settles the question of their competency as historians.

The supposed supernatural birth of Jesus has of late exercised the minds
of theologians. It is not surprising that some of them should reject the
notion, for it is one without a shred of evidence in its favor. Setting
aside the well-known fact that many other religions assume a similar
origin for their founders, we may note the New Testament accounts are in
such hopeless conflict with each other that reconciliation is
impossible.

The important subject of the "Resurrection" is treated by Professor P.
W. Schmiedel, of Zurich, who tells us that the Gospel accounts "exhibit
contradictions of the most glaring kind".

The article on the Gospels by Dr. E. A. Abbott and Professor Schmiedel
is crammed with criticism of a kind most damaging to every form of the
orthodox faith. The view hitherto current, that the four Gospels were
written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and appeared thirty or forty
years after the death of Jesus, can, it is stated, no longer be
maintained.

The alleged eclipse of the sun at the Crucifixion is impossible. One of
the orthodox shifts respecting this phenomenon is that it was an eclipse
of the moon!

Modern criticism decides that no confidence whatever can be placed in
the reliability of the Gospels as historical narratives, or in the
chronology of the events which they relate. It may even seem to justify
a doubt whether any credible elements at all are to be found in them.
Yet it is b