LIGHT ON THE BIBLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18466, 30 January 1922, Page 7

LIGHT ON THE BIBLE

WITB THE WALLS OF JERICHO FELL,

Dr A.- T. Schofield, lecturing recently at tlie Royal United, Service London, on “Recent Discoveries in Palestine,” saidrlhis object was to demonstrate the truth of the Bible/narrative.

The story of tho Gadarene .swine was attacked years ago by v Professor- Huxley, who said* that it could not be true because nowhere •arohnd. the lalce of Galilee did the hills run directly down to the: water. But Dr Schofield claimed that he had seen-and photographed one steep place, the foot of which was actually in the .water. How Joab captured- the Jebusite stronghold of Zion in, tho time of David was explained by p recent discovery. This strong•hold had held, out for 400 year's from the days of Joshua;- and it' was'told that Joab got up by a : gutter and. took it. No one knew what this gutter was until one of our Royal Engineers, bathing in a pool at the foot of - the prepipitous rode of the stronghold, , discovered, a tonne! which lednp through the heart of the rock to the top of the hill. As to the story of the Walk of Jericho felling, down after Joshua’s host had walked round it for seven days, he said, the-top of the old wall had been found in the ditch which formerly -surrounded • the city outside the wall. Dr Schofield’s explanation was .that the wails,, built only of sun-dried clay, wore pushed outward oy the pressure of people within the city rushing to loam the meaning of<, the mighty shout which the Israelites gave on tho seventh day of their perambulation. ■ A simple explanation of tho drying up of . tho Jordan was afforded -by the-fjpt that «i short distance above Jericho the river ‘do-; bouohes from a narrow gorge where to-this da-v there, are frequent landslips-which temporarily block the river and leave the bed ; dry down to- the Red -Sea.• Another, question dealt with was, Where did Elijah get the water, with which to flood tho altar', he built on-Garmel when he confounded, the priests of Baal? The-answer jiyas there was a spring of water on the top of the mount,, wliich. had nevcr. been known to run dry in the memory of man.