e answered the principal ones; and the answers given
are a fair sample of what might be given to all the objections.

As for the objections grounded on little contradictions, on matters of
little or no moment, they require no answer. Whether the contradictions
are real or only apparent, and whether they originated with copyists,
translators, or the original human authors of the Books in which they
are found, it is not worth our while to inquire. They do not detract
from the worth of the Bible one particle, nor are they inconsistent with
its claims to a super-human origin.

And so with regard to the expressions scattered up and down the
Scriptures in reference to natural things, which are supposed to be
inconsistent with the teachings of modern science. They are, in our
view, of no moment whatever. Men writing or speaking under divine
impulse, with a view to the promotion of religion or righteousness,
would be sure, when they alluded to natural things, to speak of them
according to the ideas of their times. Their geography, their astronomy,
and even their historical traditions, would be those of the people among
whom they lived. Their spirit, their aim, would be holy and divine.

Nor have we any reason to wish it should be otherwise. Nor had our old
theologians ever any right, or Scriptural authority, for saying it was,
or that it ought to be, otherwise. To us it is a pleasure and an
advantage to have a record of the ideas, of the first rude guesses, of
our early ancestors, with regard to the wonders and mysteries of the
universe, and of the events of 'the far backward and abyss of time.' It
comforts us, and it makes us thankful, to see from what small and
blundering beginnings our numberless volumes of science have sprung. And
it comforts us, and makes us thankful, to see how the first faint
streaks of spiritual and moral light, that fell on our race, gradually
increased, till at length the day-spring and the morning dawned, and
then the full bright light of the Sun of Righteousness brought the
effulgence of the Perfect Day.

And here perhaps may be the place for a few additional remarks on Divine
inspiration.

We may observe, in the first place, that a man moved to speak by the
Holy Spirit, will, of course, speak for holiness. His aim will be the
promotion of true religiousness, and this will be seen in all he says.
He may not be a good scholar. He may not speak in a superhuman style.
His reasoning may not be in s