li6 The Futtdam,ntals place. Next, for a brief period, it would appear to have been located at Nob, down in the Benj aminite country; and from this point being carried a little to the north and west, it was set up at Gibeon, where it seems to have remained for many y sa e l a e r m s. , it A w n a d s fi t n ra a n ll s y fe u r p re o d n t t o he th e a r t e p ct la io c n e, o a f nd th s e to t r e e m d p a le wa in y J th e e ru re for safe-keeping; and this is the last notice which the Bible gives of it as a matter of history. It had served its purpose, and the time came now for it to be laid aside as a memorial, or to give place for another and a more imposing structure. X. INTIMATE CONNECTION OF THIS STORYWITH OTHER BIBLICAL HISTORY Speaking somewhere of the extraordinary influence exerted by Christianity in our world, Renan says that any attempt to separate this religion from the history of humanity would be like "tearing up the tree of civilization by its roots." Very i m n u g c b h e l t i w ke ee t n ha t t h , e it h s i e s e to m r s y t o o f u t s h , e is T t a h b e e i r n n t a im cl a e c a y n o d f a r l e l la th ti e on re e s x t is o t f the history recorded in the Old Testament. Any attempt, therefore. such as that which is made by the critics, to remove t t o h r e y T , o a r be t r o n t a u c r le n a it s i a nt m o a a tt m er er o e f fi f c a t c io t n f , r w om ou O ld ld ne T ce e s s s t a a r m il e y n r t e h su is l t in failure. It would do so because the effect of it would be really to destroy all the surrounding and connected history given in the Old Testamentu; which is, of course, impossible. The very extravagance, therefore, of this higher-critic theory, or the vastness of its undertaking, is a sure proof of its inherent falsity. Dr. Valpy French, considering only the p re e a c c u h li i a n r g c it on is s , tr a u n ct d io h n ow of it th is is m T ad ab e e t r o na c c o le nf s o t r o m ry s , o h a o c w cur w a i t d e e ly with many details of archreology and topography, pronounces it, if viewed as a mere fiction, "a literary impossibilityu;" and he suggests that a simpler method to be employed by the critics, in getting rid of this troublesome story, would be for
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