Page:God and His Book.djvu/41

Rh heaven" is our old friend Bath-Kol. This strides through the Talmud recking nothing of his new-fangled successor,, the Holy Ghost. Both the Bath-Kol and the Holy Ghost seem to have been ornithologically inclined, and to have had a special penchant for the pigeon. In the Talmud Rabbi Jose writes: "I went once into the ruins of Jerusalem to pray, and I heard there a Bath-Kol, cooing like a dove, and saying: 'Woe to the children on account of whose sin I have destroyed my home, have burnt my temple, and have dispersed them among the Gentiles!'" So much for the Bath-Kol that, in the fulness of time, seems to have developed into a full-blown Holy Ghost, to whom we are indebted for begetting out blessed Lord and for inspiring those who wrote an account of his life and teachings.

Before I proceed to other relevant considerations let us briefly advert to the language in which the Holy Ghost wrote the Scriptures, in the searching of which we are promised "eternal life." Dupin, who was doctor of the Sorbonne, professor of philosophy, and one of the most learned of Christian writers, observes :—"The Hebrew alphabet is composed of twenty-two letters, like those of the Samaritans, Chaldeans, and Syrians. But, of these letters, none are vowels, and, in consequence, the pronunciation cannot be determined. The Hebrews have invented points, which, being put under the letters, answer the purpose of vowels. These vowel-points serve not only to fix the pronunciation, but also the signification of a word, because, many times, the word being differently pointed and pronounced alters the meaning entirely. This is the consideration which has made the question as to the antiquity of the points of so much importance, and has, consequently, had such elaborate treatment. Some have pretended that these points are as ancient as the Hebrew tongue, and that Abraham made use of them. Others make Moses the author of them. But the most common opinion among the Jews is that, Moses having learnt of God the true pronunciation of Hebrew words, this science was preserved in the