INTRODUCTION.

HAVING read attentively the entire manuscript of the fol lowing work, it may be proper for me to express my estimate of its character and value. The topic which it discusses certainly merits examination. First, because of the bearing which it naturally has upon our confidence in the Bible as a revelation from God; and secondly, because of the prominence which has been given to it by those who deny the truthfulness of the Bible. These reasons will be appreciated at once, and therefore need simply to be stated. Any attempt to expand or enforce them would be superfluous.

But hitherto there has been no single treatise in our language which could be said to discuss the subject as thoroughly and minutely as its importance required. Hence the need of a work on the alleged "discrepancies of the Bible,” adapted to the wants of men at the present time and taking due account of modern investigation and discovery. Such a work, it seems to me, has been produced by the Rev. Mr. Haley a work almost equally adapted to meet the wants of scholars and of the people; for on the one hand it is learned and exact, while on the other it is perspicuous and interesting.

The author has made himself familiar with the literature of the subject in various languages, and, with a wise preference of truth to originality, has given the suggestions of others whenever those suggestions appeared to him worthy of special consideration. Thus a great amount of sound learning is comprehended within the limits of a single volume.

Moreover, the statements of the author appear to be unusu

ally exact. This is a result of painstaking care and resolute candor, of a fixed purpose to spare no labor that might tend to the perfection of the work, and of an equally fixed purpose to avoid everything sectarian, as likely to interfere with its usefulness.

The style of the author is uniformly clear and forcible. He comes to the point at once, and either removes the difficulty, or at least shows the reader what it is, and how the writer would dispose of it. This is an admirable quality in such a treatise. If the least circumlocution were allowed the discussion might become tiresome; but, carried forward in the direct and vigorous language of Mr. Haley, it is constantly attractive. The investigation is made interesting by the sense of progress which it awakens. The reader feels that he is moving on, and the danger to which he is exposed is that of advancing too rapidly and eagerly, rather than too slowly and reluctantly. This, however, is a danger which every reader is happy to incur.

The question of discrepancies is a question of interpretation, and it could hardly be expected that any two persons would always agree in their method of reconciling statements which seem to be discordant. I do not in every instance prefer the explanation which Mr. Haley seems to prefer; but the clearness and soberness of his interpretations entitle them to respect in all cases, and to adoption in most. It is, therefore, a pleasure to commend his work to the notice of the public, and especially to the attention of those who for any reason wish to examine the claims of the Bible, as a Divine revelation, to our confidence.

NEWTON CENTRE, June, 1874.

ALVAH HOVEY.

PREFACE.

IN making the following contribution to the literature of Christian Apologetics, a brief explanation may be in place.

The author was moved to prepare and publish the present volume by the circulation of a pamphlet, in a certain parish, setting forth in a striking and plausible manner the so-called "self-contradictions of the Bible." This production, cunningly adapted to deceive the ignorant and unwary, was reviewed by me in a course of Sabbath-evening lectures, which form the nucleus of the present work. The pamphlet just mentioned, with many others of a similar character, I afterwards found to be the fruits of an organized and systematic plan to poison the public mind by scattering broadcast, in the cars and upon steamboats, and in other places of public resort, as well as through the mails, a cheap and virulent infidel literature. That these nefarious attempts result, in far too many cases, in subverting the religious faith and the morals of the young, there can be no question. And the means employed by the friends of virtue for exposing and defeating these "devices of Satan" seem, I regret to say, less efficient than is desirable.

During my investigation of the subject I have been impressed with the fact that the so-called "discrepancies" of the Bible have failed to receive due consideration by evangelical authors. The literature of the subject is comparatively meagre and antiquated. True, the discrepancies are discussed to some extent in the various Harmonies, Introductions, and Commentaries, but, for the most part, quite incidentally. Works exclusively devoted to the topic in question are few in number

and of comparatively remote date; hence, being scarce and of high price, they are practically inaccessible to most students of the Bible. And were they within reach, they would be found altogether behind the scholarship of the age. I know of no work, ancient or modern, which covers the whole ground, treating the subject comprehensively yet concisely, and which is, at the same time, adapted to general circulation. Whoever will examine the appended Bibliography will very probably be convinced that there is a demand for a work of the kind just mentioned. To supply in some degree this want is the aim of the present volume. The measure of the author's success must be determined by the reader.

Some persons may, perchance, question the wisdom of publishing a work in which the difficulties of scripture are brought together and set forth so plainly. They may think it better to suppress, as far as may be, the knowledge of these things. The author does not sympathize with any such timid policy. He counts it the duty of the Christian scholar to look difficulties and objections squarely in the face. Nothing is to be gained by overlooking, evading, or shrinking from them. Truth has no cause to fear scrutiny, however rigid and searching. Besides, the enemies of the Bible will not be silent, even if its friends should hold their peace. It should be remembered that the following "discrepancies" are not now published for the first time. They are gathered from books and pamphlets which are already extensively circulated. The poison demands an antidote. The remedy should be carried wherever the disease has made its blighting way.

With such views as these I issue this humble volume. Such as it is, making small claim to originality and literary merit, it is committed to the public. If it shall help to vindicate the Bible from the reproaches and misrepresentations of its enemies, and to solve doubts in the minds of honest inquirers, the author's object will have been attained.

Not proposing a discussion of all the difficult questions which

arise in studying the Bible, I have restricted my attention to the so-called "discrepancies," that is, to those cases in which the statements or narratives of the Bible are said to conflict with one another. I have kept within the Bible. Cases in which the scriptures seem at variance with secular history or with science have been left to other and abler hands. I have dealt only with those in which the book appears inconsistent with itself. All cases of the latter kind which were of any importance, or which could perplex an honest inquirer of ordinary intelligence, I have aimed to include;1 and if any such have been omitted, I regret the oversight.

In the preparation of this volume, I first read carefully the works of a large number of English, German, and French rationalists and infidels, with a view to gather up all the “discrepancies" which they adduce from the scriptures. Also, the numerous publications of kindred character-books, pamphlets, and printed sheets which have been put forth by American sceptics were sedulously collected and collated. This being done, my next care was to classify and solve these discrepancies. In this process I have, as will be seen, laid under contribution a large number of critics and commentators, ancient and modern; in a word, I have gathered from every source whatever seemed pertinent and satisfactory.2

One feature of the book, to which the reader's attention is particularly invited, is the copious quotations made with the view to exhibit the unanimity of scholars upon certain important points. For this purpose, and generally, an author's exact words could not fail to be more satisfactory to the reader than a mere reference would be. That this copiousness of citation gives to certain portions of the book the aspect of a

1 The whole number of cases treated is nearly nine hundred.

2 In order to avoid increasing the size and price of the book, it has been found expedient to omit an extended "List of Authorities" which had been prepared. This omission is the less to be regretted since abundant references are given throughout the work.