Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/246

 332 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

pendently of any statement of fact in the Bible, For instance, the student of comparative philology notes the family resem- blance between the Hebrew language, as we have it in the Bible, and the language of the Phoenicians, Arabians, Moabites, and Mesopotamians. As a result of long and careful study, he de- clares that the Israelites are blood-relatives of these other peoples. Then, after independent linguistic research, he looks into the Hexateuch and finds that the traditions of Genesis admit the kinship connection of Israel with several Semitic peoples. The scientific historian also learns, by general investigation, that be- fore any people acquires a definite location it is necessarily nomadic. And looking into the Hexateuch, we find that the forefathers of Israel, previous to the acquirement of Canaan, were wanderers. The modern student of industrial history dis- covers that primitive nomadism is conditioned by the food sup- ply. And looking into the traditions of Israel he finds that before the settlement in Canaan the nomadic Israelites tem- porarily occupied the pastures of Goshen during a season of awful famine. This is what we mean by the historical basis, or kernel, of early biblical tradition. There is no denying that facts may come down to us in a wrapping of myth.

It should be noted, however, that these points of agreement are in respect of general truths, not of si>ecial details. Any people may belong to a race greater than itself. Any people is necessarily nomadic before it finds a permanent location. And any nomadic people is necessarily dependent upon the natural food supply. It is when the narratives of the Hexateuch go into detail regarding the history of Israel before the settle- ment that modern criticism interposes its caveat. It is vitally important to bear in mind, as pointed out in our first instalment, that the Bible in its present form is not contemporary with events described ; and that while it is concerned with historical facts, it is not written primarily as history, but as edification. The purpose of the late authors and editors who brought the biblical narratives into their present shape and connections was not the writing of a scientific history, but the promotion of the distinctive biblical religion. In other words, the Bible is a "tend-