To the Editor of the "Nort-Cuina Datty News."
Sir,—Your correspondent ''Protestant'" asks me a_ question, which I will answer to the best of my ability.
The question is "Are the dates that we, frequently meet with in the Bible exact or not?" My answer would be, When an event is dated in Scripture, we are certainly warranted in believing the date to be correct.
I know that there are people who would discredit the historic cal accuracy of the Scriptures, but in each case of alleged error which I have examined I have seen more reason for distrusting the allegation than the record.
I acknowledge that there may be errors of a year or two in translating Bible dates into years before or after Christ, but that is a different question. Some numbers in the Bible are evidently intended to be round numbers: Also. there may be a place here or there where numbers hava become corrupted, but such cases may be easily recognized. The Bible records will be found, I believe, in all cases substantially and even strictly accurate.
I frankly do not understand "Protestant's" instance of "thd bird released by Noah after the deluge", and the "two versions', of which he speaks, one of a dove, another of a raven, "and in both versions dates differ." In the version I have always read there are two birds, a raven' and a dove, and one date, the 61st year of Nozh's life. Off course, there are, as was to be expected, other and distorted versions of this story in the world, but in the Bible there is one version only, for I really cannot bring myself to see mord than one connected story in thd Genesis account.
"God works by number." "Protestant" quotes these -words of my former letter. I made the remark with reference to God's work in Nature. One has said of this, "Order is conspicuous in Nature in relation to number. The laws of gravitation, light, scund, chemical combination, &c, are all laws of number. Num, ber is prominent fu inorganic nature as in the form of crystals, and in organized nature, both vegetable and animal." It is probable that the laws of every force of nature, and mos processes, are capable of theing expressed mathematically.
Is it not then likely that the development and progress of the human race is also governed by number? and if so, would this net be a proper subject for revelation It is at least remarkable that tie prophetic numbers of Dan isl are also astronomical cycles. This seems to connect "the Lord of Nature with the author of the Bible.
Anyway there are the records, and there can be no reasonable doubt about the text in respect of most of the numbers here concerned, and they too are the facts of history, inviting com~ parison with them.
I am, etc., W. S. Movts. Ningpo, Sept. 14, 1928.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.