Editorial October 12, 1899 Issue

The Spade and the Bible

Editor

The various archaeological societies in Europe and America which make Palestine, Egypt, and the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates their special field of research, are still reaping a rich harvest," says the Christian Advocate of New York. "Scarcely a week passes without some new discovery. Within the last twenty-five years there has been such a rich accumulation of new treasures from the past in each of these countries, that it may be safely said that the whole science of Oriental archaeology has undergone a complete regeneration.

"A similar advance has been made also in the criticism of the text. Over forty years ago Tischendorf discovered on Mount Sinai the loose parchment sheets of large portions of an unknown codex of the Gospels. Instead of the Codex Sinaiticus disturbing the received text, it has only strengthened its hold upon the faith and reverence of the Biblical critics. The still later discovery of other Scriptural records in the same place, the Convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, by two English ladies, Miss Gibson and Mrs. Lewis, only confirms the triumph of Tischendorf. Any critic who hopes to gain support for antagonism to the text and the doctrines of the Bible from any monumental records now coming to daylight, is clearly doomed to disappointment, if the future may be judged from the past.

"The triumph of the spade promises to continue. How broad will be the horizon of the rich field of Scripture confirmation, and how far it will extend into the future, are questions which the wisest cannot now answer. The mere mention of them bewilders; but it may be taken for granted that the doubter of the authenticity of the Scriptures has nothing to gain by what the spade has yet to unearth from the hiding-places of the centuries."

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