The Fundamentals
50
NARRATIVES AND RECORDS AUTHENTIC
When Christ makes reference to Old Testament narratives and records, He accepts them as authentic, as historically true. He does not give or suggest in any case a mythical or allegorical interpretation. The accounts of the creation, of the flood, of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as many incidents and events of later occurrence, are taken as authentic. I t may, of course, be alleged that the Lord’s references to the creation of man and woman, the flood, the cities of the plain, etc., equally serve His purpose of illustration whether He regards them as historical or not. But on weighing His words it will be seen that they lose much of their force and appropriateness unless the events alluded to had a historical character. Let us refer more particularly to this matter. When the Pharisees ask Christ whether it is lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause, He answers them: “Have ye not read, that He which made them in the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?” (Matt. 19:4, 5). Again: “As the days of Noe were, so shall'also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in mar riage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not, until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37, 39). Again: “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt he brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judg ment, than for thee” (Matt. 11:23, 24). These utterances, every one feels, lose their weight and solemnity, if there was
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