Alvin E. Bell

Published in 1926 (and reprinted in 1961), this is an outdated work that assumes that biblical writings were divinely inspired and accurate chronicles of history. Each of the books of the so-called Old and New Testaments are considered in turn, and interpreted in ways to supportive of the author's religious beliefs.

I was interested to see how the author (a Lutheran minister from Ohio) would deal with the obvious conflicts between Genesis and with science of the 1920s. He did so not by denying evolution per se, but by denying what biology could hope to establish. He writes: "Instead of contradicting true science, Genesis goes beyond the furthest reaches of science, and bridges the three great gaps science and evolution cannot bridge, viz., the origin of matter, the origin of animal life, and the origin of man." The assertion is similar to one heard today, by apologists who take false comfort in believing that science has limits that leave room for their chosen deity. Nonetheless, the author's confident statement evidences both wishful thinking and ignorance. After all, by the 1920s, early hominid fossils had been found in Europe and Asia, and our closest living primate relatives were well known to science.

This book, and others like it, have long since been superceded by scholarly works that have revealed the historical inaccuracies of biblical writings. (For example, consult some of the several books written by Bart Ehrman). As for how the three "gaps" noted above have been filled, read Stephen Hawking, Simon Conway Morris, Richard Leakey, and Tim White. We've come a long way in 90 years...… (altro)