RECONSTRUCTION OF BIBLICAL THEORIES;

OR,

BIBLICAL SCIENCE

IMPROVED IN ITS HISTORY, CHRONOLOGY, AND INTERPRETATION,

RELIEVED FROM TRADITIONARY ERRORS AND

UNWARRANTABLE HYPOTHESES,

of Louder mens

BY

LEICESTER AMBROSE SAWYER,

TRANSLATOR OF THE SCRIPTURES, ETC.

BOSTON:

WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY,

245 WASHINGTON STREET.

1862.

#4043 C1337.40

HARVARD COLLEGE

B 5 1887

LIBRARY.

Pucident's Office:

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by

LEICESTER AMBROSE SAWYER,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

STEREOTYPED AT THE

BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.

PREFACE.

THE Bible, understood any way, furnishes many props and supports to piety and virtue, but performs its greatest services only when it is understood correctly. Incorrect systems of biblical interpretation, however sanctioned by time and ecclesiastical authorities, must give way to truth and reality; and though something will be lost by the change, far more will be gained. We must not be afraid to improve our theologies, and abandon any notion that is wrong for the truth whose place it usurps. Only truth is of God.

The present work does not embrace particularly the whole field of biblical science. It commences with general principles and facts, and reconstructs the theories of the earlier parts of the Bible, till the times of Samuel and David, embracing the Pentateuch, Joshua, and Judges. It contains retranslations of the earlier documents, and occasional extracts from later ones. The author has reconstructed the theories of the New Testament, which he proposes also to publish as soon as may be, and by which he hopes to give new impulses and utilities to the study of that portion of the sacred Scriptures; but he deems the points embraced in the discussions of the present volume quite sufficient for a first lesson, and commends them to the earnest consideration of all Christians. The Science of Christianity is the common property of Christendom, and its highest possible improvement the common interest of all human races.

The reconstruction of theories relating to the poets accompanies the translation of them; and those relating to Daniel and the later historical books, will accompany them, leaving New Testament reconstruction for an independent volume to follow this.

THE AUTHOR.

BOSTON, July 1, 1862.

(3)