ual worth of earliest
mankind. The very oldest records of the Holy Scripture give evidence of
this intellectual height; and even the royal programmes of Assyrian
monarchs, which the wonderful diligence and ingenuity of recent
investigators have deciphered from the cuneiform inscriptions, not only
relatively correspond to the height of culture which we find in the ruins
of Assyrian palaces, but even, when looked upon absolutely and aside from
the morality of conquest which they indulge, are inspired by a nobility of
mind, and permeated by a religiousness, which no potentate of recent times
would need to be ashamed of. They have {345} been made accessible to the
public by the work of Eberhard Schrader: "Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament" ("Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament"), Giessen, 1872.

Sec. 4. _Providence, Hearing of Prayer, and Miracles._

Before we enter into the special christological realm, we have yet to
glance at the realm of the more common relations between God and the
creature, as they have found, in faith in a divine providence, in hearing
of prayer, and in divine miracles, their reflection in Christian
consciousness.

It is true, we had to discuss the chief basis of an understanding in this
matter when treating of the position of the Darwinian theories in reference
to theism in general; but we have a double reason for entering again into
the consideration of the concrete form which this faith has obtained in
Christianity.

One reason is the fact, that faith in a special providence of God, in a
hearing of prayer, and in a connection of the human history of salvation
with miracles, forms a very essential part of the Christian view of the
world and of Christian religiousness. All Holy Scripture is interwoven with
assurances of a providence of God, going even into details; with the most
distinct and solemn promises of the hearing of our prayers; and with the
most emphatic reference to the miracles which it relates. The Lord himself
not only found all these doctrines, and left them untouched, but he
developed them in the most pregnant way, and brought them into the most
intimate connection with the quintessence and centre of his doctrine.
According to his teaching, {346} "a sparrow shall not fall to the ground
without the will of your heavenly Father; but the very hairs of your head
are all numbered." He encourages us to pray, with the words: "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever y