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The Prayer Book of the Church of England orders the Apocrypha to be read in public,
"For example of life and instruction of manners, but yet it doth not apply them to
teach any doctrine."
John Bunyan sought for more than a year "a text" which had helped him:
"Look at the generations of old, and see; did ever any trust in the Lord, and was
confounded?"
He found it at last in Ecclesiasticus 2:10.
"The Song of the Three Children", "Bel and the Dragon", and "The History of
Susannah" are additions to the book of Daniel. In the History of Delection, Dorothy
Sayer included the two last books in her earliest examples. Shakespeare makes Shylock
refer to "Susannah" when he said "A Daniel came to judgment".
Old Bibles often have the Apocrypha bound up with them.
No.8.
The Witness of Archaeology.
pp. 111 - 113
The Bible is its own witness. Proof of its truth comes with its study. Nevertheless it
is a valuable asset to know and to be able to refer to the findings of the archaeologist as
he brings to light records of the past.
We content ourselves in this paper with a reference to some of the most outstanding
evidences of Scripture accuracy which the spade of the archaeologist has brought to light,
but nothing less than a personal and painstaking acquaintance both with material and with
method can give a true sense of the conviction which these evidences convey.
Archaeological Evidence.
The Flood. A Fact (Gen. 6:-9:).
One of "the most important historical documents of its kind" is the description given
by Dr. Stephen Langdon to the prism catalogued W.B.444, a cuneiform tablet purchased
by Mr. H. Weld-Blundell in Baghdad. It contains 379 lines of which we give the
following:
Line 1 -- Rulership which from heaven descended.
Line 2 -- At Eriden rulership began.
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Line 39 -- The Deluge came up.
Line 40 -- After the Deluge had come.
Line 41 -- The Rulership which descended from heaven.
Line 42 -- At Kish was the Rulership.