BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 
SERIES I 

I . The Book of Books " 
IL The- Catholic and Protestant 

Bibles 
m . The Bible, the Sole Rule of 

Faith? 
IV. Inspiration and Inerrancy 

V. Tfie Historical Books of the 
. Bible " - " 
VL The 'Wisdoia Literature of the 

, ' Bible : 
'n v i l . Letters and Epistles in the 

. Bible 
. Villi Thé Prophetical Literature in 

the Bible ' 
* SERIES I t 

. LStor ies and Parables in' the 
Bible -

II. Types and Figures in the 
Bible '"-•• ' 

III . Orations in the Bible 
IV. Places of "Worship in the Bible-

V. Sacred. Persons in-' the Bible 
VI. Sacred Times and Festivab 

in the Bible , 
VII. Religious Sects in the- Bible 

VIII. Recent Popes' and thé Bible 

SERIES III 

L The Bible and Science 
II. The Bible and Science, .Con-

tinued 
III. Creation and Evolution 
IV. The Origin of Man 
V. The State of Primitive Jus-

tice 
VI. The Fall 

VII. The Fallen State and Science 
VIII. Original Sin 

SERES IV 

X The Primitive Piiir and 
Descendants 

II. The Deluge and the A r t 
III. Ill-Fated Cities-

Tower of Babel 
Sodom and Gommorrha 

IV. Esau and Jacob 
. V, Exodus from Egypt 

Its 

- - VI. Special Personages and Events 
Josue arid the San 

S Witch of Endor 
Elias and Henoch 

. Jonas and the Fish 
VIT. Job and the Problem of Evil 
TIIL Old Testament Morality and 

Religion 
SERIES V 

X The Synoptic Gospels 
II. St. John's Gospel 

i III. The Two Annunciations 
.IV. The.'Incarnation . 

V. Duration of the Hypostatic 
Union • ' 

VI. The Virgin Birth 
VIL "Ever Blessed Virgin" 
VIII. Tbe Holy Family 

SERIES VI 
I. The Visitation 

JI. The Birth-, of Christ and. the 
. Sacred Infancy . 31 

III. The Magi , and thé Innocents 
IV: Baptism 

V. The Divinity, of Christ 
VI. St. Peter. Head of thé Church 
VII. The One True Church 
v i i l . Thé Promise of the Eucharist 

• . SERIES VII 
I . The Paschal Supper and the 

Holy Eucharist; *.. y. / 
The Agony and ' the' Betrayal 
.of Christ" ; 
The. Condemnation of Christ 
The Crucifixion 1 
Our Lord Forlorn 

"He Decended Into Hell" 
The Redemption 
The Redemption, Continued 

SERIES T i n H 
The Angels 
The Evil Spirits 
Christ's Knowledge and the 
Last Day 
The Particular Judgment 
Heaven and Hell 

Purgatory 
Bodily Resurrection 
The End of the World 

n. 
HI. 
IV, 

V. 
VI. 
VII. 

VHL 

I. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 
VII. 
vin. 

20e -per copy of each Series; discount on quantity orders. 
Order from Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Indiana. 

Series I of Biblical Questions aims to give the student a general 
acquaintance with the Bible. The Chapters and Discussion Aids are 
constructed in such a way as to oblige the student to page the Bible, 
become acquainted with the arrangement of the Books, ami yead some 
sections of each Book. i •• I -

Séries II continues this general discussion about the Bible. •' 
Series III takes up specific questions in the Old and the New Testa-

ment, and this method will be continued in the subsequent Series. With 
the permisión of the Bruce Publishing Company of Milwaukee, son* of 

(Continued en inside back cover) 



BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

A Discussion Club Manual for 
Young People's and Adult Groups 

BY 

REV. RUDOLPH G. BANDAS 

Series IV 



Nihil Obstat: 
Rev. George Ziskovsky, S.T.D., L.S.Sc. 

Censor Deputatus 
die I I a Februarii, 1943 

Imprimatur: 
<t> J O A N N E S GREGORIUS M U R R A Y 

Archiepiscopus Sancti Pauli 
die 13a Februarii, 1943 

Third Edition, 15,000 

Published in U.S.A. 
December 20, 1952 

~ , 1 Our Sunday Visitor Press 
Huntington, Indiana 



Table of Contents 
Chapter I The Primitive Pair and Its Descendants 5 

Chapter II The Flood and the Ark 15 

Chapter III Ill-Fated Cities 25 

Chapter IV Esau and Jacob ..... 33 

Chapter V Exodus from Egypt . . — - — . . . . 41 

Chapter VI Special Personages and Events 55 

Chapter VII Job and the Problem of Evil .v 64 

Chapter VIII Old Testament Morality and Religion .... 74 





Chapter I 

The Primitive Pair and Its 
Descendants 

The Unity of the Human Race 

It is the accepted teaching of the Catholic 
Church that Adam and Eve were the first progeni-
tors of the human race. There have been writers, 
it is true, who maintained that men existed before 
Adam. Some who for one reason or another wish to 
remove all possible connection between the whites 
and the blacks, insist that several families lived 
contemporaneously with Adam so" that he is not the 
father of all. Scripture, however, clearly asserts 
that no man existed when Adam was created: 
"There was not a man to till the earth" (Genesis 
2:5) ; Eve, too, was the first woman created. "For 
Adam there was not found a helper like himself" 
(Genesis 2:20). St. Paul affirms that the whole 
human race is derived from one man; "God . . . 
hath made of one, all mankind to dwell upon the 
whole face of the earth" (Acts 17:26). The unity of 
the human race is necessarily implied in the Cath-
olic doctrine concerning original sin; all men con-
tract original sin because they all descend by physi-
cal generation from Adam : "By one man sin enter-
ed into this world, and by sin death, and so death 
passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned." 
(Romans 5:12). 

Unity of the Human Race and Experience 
Experience confirms the teaching of revela-

tion. All things tend to prove that the human race 



6" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

has not been composed of markedly different 
species but that there has been but one type of men 
from the beginning. A few examples will readily 
establish this fact. Men of all countries have ra-
tional souls, are capable of acquiring knowledge and 
of assimilating the sublime moral and religious 
truths of Christianity. Again, men of all colors and 
languages have the same kind of body. In America, 
Japan, or Australia, and at all intermediate points, 
all men have the same anatomical structure, physi-
ological operations, and build; they all have the same 
warm blood, the same number of pulse beats, the 
same average length of life, and the same human 
sicknesses; they can intermarry and bring forth 
children who in turn are capable of parenthood. 
Finally, all peoples have, and have had a religion. 
More than two thousand years ago Plutarch said: 
"You may find a nation without a king, without 
cities, without laws, without coins, but you will find 
none without a temple, without prayers, without 
oaths, without a God." 

The Wife of Cain 
But does not the Bible say that Cain, the son 

of Adam and Eve, went into a strange land and 
there wedded a wife? How was this possible, if 
Adam and Eve and their sons were the only human 
beings in existence? Let us see what exactly are the 
words of Genesis: "And Cain went out from the 
face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the 
earth, at the east side of Eden. And Cain knew his 
wife, and she conceived, and brought forth Henoch" 
(Genesis 4:16, 17). All that the Bible says is that 
Cam lived with his wife in a strange land and begot 
Henoch. The natural solution is that Cain brought 



THE PRIMITIVE PAIR AND ITS DESCENDANTS 7 

his wife with him. In Genesis 5:4, we read that 
Adam "begot sons and daughters." Now, as St. 
Augustine says, Cain's marriage to a sister, es-
pecially in the beginning when necessity demanded, 
was not opposed to the primary natural law. Al-
mighty God, who created one man and one woman 
and decreed that from them the earth should be 
populated, approved of this measure of intermar-
riage between brothers and sisters. Furthermore, 
we must bear in mind that "there were giants in 
those days," that the men and women of that time 
possessed an unadulterated bodily vigor. Their in-
termarrying did not impair the strength of human 
nature. Today the Church forbids marriages up to 
the third degree inclusive. The two reasons for 
which such marriages were permitted in the first 
days are lacking; men are no longer giants, nor is it 
necessary for the propagation of the race that they 
should marry close relatives. 

Unity of the Human Race and Color 
Against the Biblical and Catholic doctrine that 

Adam and Eve were the first progenitors of the 
human race pseudo-science registers a vigorous pro-
test. If men descend from a primitive pair, how ex-
plain the differences in color among the various 
peoples? Whence arose the white, yellow, and black 
races? This difficulty is not so serious as it seems 
at first sight. Color is merely a matter of sunlight 
playing upon the skin. The browns and the yellows 
and the blacks are men in whom the process of sun-
burning has gone on for thousands of years. Men 
are black at the equator where the sun's rays are 
most direct; they shade off in the temperate and 
frigid zones where the sun's rays are oblique. The 



8" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

basis of this difference of colors is a certain pig-
ment under the skin which varies its shade with the 
climate and mode of living. When this process had 
continued for a long time, especially in the begin-
ning when human nature was more flexible, color 
finally became stable. At any rate, we would hardly 
stare at our friends, who come home tanned from 
three weeks at a seashore, as beings of another race. 

Unity of the Human Race and Languages 
Nor does the great number of languages in the 

world point to different human families. This va-
riety is due to the dispersion and migration of 
peoples. History shows that two peoples who origi-
nally had the same language and who later on sepa-
rated,. finally developed entirely different languages. 
Local conditions, provincial ways of viewing things, 
the naming of new objects found in the district, 
developed the original language along different lines. 
Consider, for example, the many dialects spoken in 
England alone; but who will say that the English 
are not all of one species? Or consider Chaucer's 
spelling for a moment, and you will be surprised 
when you are told that he wrote English. On the 
other hand, philological research has shown that 
languages which at first sight seemed diverse, have 
in reality one and the same origin. The Semitic and 
the Indo-Germanic languages have so many funda-
mental elements in common that linguists are of the 
opinion that these languages probably belong to the 
same family. Again, certain sounds, exclamations, 
metaphors, and constructions are found in all lan-
guages and point to a common parentage. Finally, 
the fact that all men possess the faculty of speech 
points to a common progenitor. 



THE PRIMITIVE PAIR AND ITS DESCENDANTS 9 

Unity of the Human Race and Migration 
But if all men have sprung from Adam, how 

could they migrate from one center to most distant 
lands and islands, especially to America and to 
other far-away parts of the «/orld? Today, the 
possibility of Asiatics passing to America is readily 
admitted by students of geography. As a matter of 
fact, Bering Strait is all that separates Asia from 
America. Only thirteen miles wide, and often frozen 
in winter, it formed a natural bridge from Kamt-
chatka to Alaska. During the warmer months ships 
and boats were driven by the winds and currents 
from Asia to American shores. As a matter of fact, 
many of the Asiatic customs and religious rites are 
found among the Mexicans and Indians. The same 
explanation holds for the South Islands and the 
islands of Oceania: even in our time the inhabitants 
of these islands cross great ocean distances in their 
little boats. Again, the coast line of France today 
is quite different from what it was in the past. In 
all probability the British Isles were once connected 
with the Continent, and the imaginary impossibility 
of crossing from one country to another was conse-
quently nonexistent. 

Longevity Of Patriarchs 
Intimately connected with the question of the 

unity of the human race is that of the longevity of 
the first descendants of Adam and Eve (Genesis 
5:3-31; 11:10-26). Some of these patriarchs are 
said to have lived as many as nine hundred years. 
Certain scholars have attempted to reduce the years 
of the patriarchs by supposing that the years were 
months; but this is out of the question because it 
would cut down the patriarchal period to one-



10" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

twelfth of the time assigned to it by Genesis; 
furthermore, it would make Enos, for example, a 
father at the age of seven and a half years. 

The author of the article on "Patriarchs" in the 
Catholic Encyclopedia points out the discrepancies 
in the figures as reported by three Biblical versions 
'of the same narratives—the Hebrew, Greek and 
Samaritan—and concludes that the figures indi-
cating the ages of the Patriarchs are more or less 
artificial; however, these discrepancies are too 
small to justify the author's conclusion and too in-
significant to throw any light on the problem. 

With the older commentators and modern con-
servative scholars we prefer to accept the figures 
as historical because they are found in the Bible. 
We do not consider the question of the longevity of 
the Patriarchs as beyond solution. Besides, the pas-
sage in Genesis 4:4—"Now giants were upon the 
earth in those days"—seems to point to the existence 
of an ancient race of mighty men or to the fact that 
early man was of greater stature and of greater 
physical strength than men of later times. 

From the teaching of faith we know that the 
human body was originally destined not to die. For 
this reason the body of Adam and his immediate 
descendants was undoubtedly more perfect than that 
of later men. Man, like the other works of God, 
came forth perfect from His hands. True, our first 
parents lost the gift of immortality and became 
subject to the law of death after the Fall—"Dust 
thou are and unto dust thou shalt return." But, in 
order to effect bodily immortality, God conferred 
upon our first parents an unusual bodily strength 
which they preserved even after the expulsion from 



THE PRIMITIVE PAIR AND ITS DESCENDANTS 11 

Paradise and which gradually diminished during the 
successive generations until it reached that measure 
which belongs to man naturally. 

Again, if Adam tasted of the "tree of life" he 
probably derived from it a vigor which persevered 
in his descendants for several centuries. At the 
same time this longevity of the Patriarchs was not 
without a providential purpose: this strong line of 
men propagated the human race rapidly and handed 
down God's revelation and the history of the human 
race pure and incorrupt. 

Eminent physiologists have considered the ex-
treme longevity of the Patriarchs not impossible. 
Even Buffon, by no means inclined to credulity in 
regard to Scriptural facts, admits the truth of the 
Biblical record and sees physical causes for such 
long life in early times. The fruits of the soil had 
greater nourishing powers in the beginning and 
were in perfect harmony with the body which as-
similated them. Men lived moderately, simply and 
naturally until they reached a good old age. They 
were not subject to all those diseases and ills which 
gradually come to men from the environment and 
by heredity. 

Modern science—especially the science of pale-
ontology, the development and progress of which 
has received a new impulse from the evolutionist 
theory—offers a helpful analogy. It shows, as the 
German Scripturist, Selbst, points out, that in the 
beginning nature built on stronger and broader 
foundations and conceived in mightier and more 
generous proportions. It indicates the gigantic 
fossils and flora and fauna of long ago. It reveals, 
for example, the immense distance between the tree-



12" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

like fern and its descendants which today as small 
plants grace our ferneries. It points to the dinosaur, 
the mere flip of whose tail would be sufficient to 
sweep away a house. Everywhere is found an ex-
emplification of the same law: the continuation of 
the mighty in the small. 

The ancient traditions of such nations as the 
Greeks, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hindoos, and 
others carry accounts of the longevity of the early 
inhabitants of the globe. If it be argued that this 
only places the Scriptural account on a level with 
pagan histories, we reply that if the Scrip-
ture account is true, the traditions of other 
nations would be almost certain to preserve 
some traces of the truth; reminiscences of the lon-
gevity of the forefathers would be preserved among 
all the nations of the earth which gradually and 
successively detached themselves from the original 
family and group. This is a far more probable ex-
planation of the fact than the supposition that all 
these nations—however widely separated and un-
connected with each other—stumbled upon the same 
account. 

Josephus Flavius, who wrote a history of the 
Jews about A.D. 70, refers to these ancient tra-
ditions concerning the early men in the following 
terms: "But let no one, upon comparing the lives 
of the ancients with our lives, and with the few 
years which we now live, think that what we have 
said of them is false; or make the shortness of our 
own lives at present an argument, that neither did 
they attain to so long a duration of life. . . . Now 
I have for witnesses to what I have said, all those 
that have written Antiquities, both among the 



THE PRIMITIVE PAIR AND ITS DESCENDANTS 13 

Greeks and barbarians; for even Manetho, who 
wrote the Egyptian history, and Berosus, who col-
lected the Chaldean monuments, and Mochus, and 
Hesitiaeus, and besides these, Hieronymus, the 
Egyptian, and those who composed the Phoenician 
History, agree to what I say" (Antiquities I, 3, 9). 

Discussion Aids 
Set I 

1. Prove from Scripture that Adam was the 
first man—and Eve the first woman. 

2. Does science support the doctrine of the 
unity of the human race? 

3. Where did Cain get his wife? Explain fully. 
4. Is the unity of the human race disproved by 

the variety of color among men? 
By the great number of languages in the 
world? 

By the difficulty of migrating from one land 
to another? 

Set II 

1. Are the "years" of the patriarchs "months"? 
2. Do the slight discrepancies in the Hebrew, 

Greek and Samaritan versions throw any 
light on the problem? 

3. Give six reasons explaining the longevity of 
the patriarchs. 

Religious Practices 

1. Since we are all equally created by God, I 
will not look down upon members of another 
race or nationality as inferior to me. 



16" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

2. I will avoid all discrimination against the 
Jews and Negroes. 

3. I will try to understand that God gives me 
length of days for a providential purpose: 
That I may serve Him and my neighbor 
longer and better. 



Chapter II 

The Flood and the Ark 
The Fact of the Flood 

The account of the deluge is found in the Book 
of Genesis, chapters six to nine. In these chapters 
the sacred author describes the cause of the deluge, 
namely, human wickedness (6:5-7), the divine com-
mand to Noe to build the ark (6:6-22), the entrance 
into the ark (7:1-16), the deluge itself (7:17-24) 
and the events occurring immediately after the 
flood (8 to 9:17). The cause of the deluge is stated 
in the following words: 

"And God seeing that the wickedness of 
men was great on the earth, and that all 
the thought of their heart was bent upon 
evil at all times, 

It repented him that he had made man on 
the earth. 

And being touched inwardly with sorrow 
of heart, 

He said: I will destroy man, whom I have 
created, from the face of the earth, from 
man even to beasts, from the creeping 
thing even to the fowls of the air, for it 
repenteth me that I have made them." 

As the following quotations will show, the 
sacred writers of both the Old and the New Testa-
ment considered the flood and the circumstances 
mentioned in the Book of Genesis as historical facts: 



18" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

"When water destroyed the earth, wisdom 
healed it again, directing the course of 
the just by contemptible wood" 

Wisdom 10:4 
"And from the beginning also when the 

proud giants perished, the hope of the 
world fleeing to a vessel which was gov-
erned by thy hand, left to the world seed 
of generation" 

Wisdom 14:6 
"The ancient giants did not obtain pardon 

for their sins, who were destroyed trust-
ing to their own strength" 

Ecclesiasticus 16:8 
"Noe was found perfect, just, and in the 

time of wrath he was made a reconcilia-
tion. 

Therefore, was there a remnant left to the 
earth, when the flood came" 

Ecclesiasticus 44:17-18 
"This thing is to me as in the days of Noe, 

to whom I swore, that I would no more 
bring in the waters of Noe upon the 
earth; so have I sworn not to be angry 
with thee, and not to rebuke thee" 

Isaias 54:9 
"And as in the days of Noe, so shall also 

the coming of the Son of man be. For as 
in the days before the flood they were 
eating and drinking, marrying and 
giving in marriage, even till that day in 
which Noe entered into the ark, and they 



THE FLOOD AND THE ARK 17 

knew not till the flood came, and took 
them all away; so also shall the coming 
of the Son of man be" 

Matthew 24:37-39 

"By faith Noe, having received an answer 
concerning those things which as yet 
were not seen, moved with fear, framed 
the ark for the saving of his house, by 
the which he condemned the world; and 
was instituted heir of the justice which 
is by faith" 

Hebrews 11:7 
"Which (those spirits that were in prison) 

had been some time incredulous when 
they waited for the patience of God in 
the days of Noe, when the ark was a 
building; wherein a few, that is, eight 
souls, were saved by water" 

I Peter 3:20 
"God spared not the original world, but 

preserved Noe, the eighth person, the 
preacher of justice, bringing in the flood 
upon the world of the ungodly" 

II Peter 2:5 
"The world that then was, being over-

flowed with water, perished" 
II Peter 3:6 

In Christian tradition the Bible story concern-
ing the flood has never been explained in any but a 
truly historical sense by the Fathers of the Church, 
theologians, and Catholic writers. 

The Biblical narrative concerning the flood is 
confirmed by the numerous forms under which the 



18" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

story of the flood lives in the literature and folklore 
of most distant nations of the earth. Some scholars 
pronounce the flood story the most universal tra-
dition in the history of primitive man. Others main-
tain that it would be a greater miracle than the 
deluge itself, if the various and different nations 
had produced among them a tradition substantially 
identical. Ethnologists divide the races of mankind 
into the Semitic, Aryan, and Turanian. Now, in all 
these races there are stories of a flood which de-
stroyed all mankind except a few chosen souls. 
Among the more civilized countries of Europe, and 
in well-nigh every portion of Asia and America, we 
find accounts of this great catastrophe and of the 
miraculous deliverance of a single family. That the 
nations of the earth should have a natural science, 
more or less alike, is easily intelligible. But that in 
all parts of the world among races the most remote 
and dissimilar, there should prevail a belief, that, 
after man was created on the earth, all men but one 
family were destroyed by a flood, is intelligible 
only on the supposition that such an event did actu-
ally occur. A universal belief, which does not spring 
directly from something in our nature, can reason-
ably be ascribed only to a historical fact. This event 
is narrated simply, graphically, and accurately in 
the Book of Genesis; it may be variously distorted 
and disguised in the tradition of the heathen world. 

We are now in a position to evaluate the claim 
of certain authors that the Biblical report of the de-
luge is borrowed from a similar Babylonian ac-
count. The Babylonian story of the flood is found 
on a tablet written in Ninive in the seventh century 
before Christ. That there are resemblances between 



THE FLOOD AND THE ARK 19 

the Babylonian and Biblical narratives of the flood, 
we readily grant; but this does not prove that the 
second is borrowed from the first; rather, it indi-
cates that both stories have one common source—a 
tradition handed down by Noe. It is reproduced in 
its purity by Moses, whereas the Babylonians 
adulterated it with gross polytheistic and mytho-
logical errors. 

Geographical Universality of the Flood, 
Did the flood cover the whole earth or globe? 

Such seems at first sight to be the teaching of the 
Biblical narrative and such was the belief down to 
the seventeenth century. But two hundred years of 
geological and scientific study have led practically 
to the abandonment of the geographical universality 
of the flood. Neither Sacred Scripture nor tradition 
oblige us to adhere to the opinion that the flood 
covered the whole surface of the earth. The primary 
and correct interpretation of the Biblical narrative 
demands a universality of the flood covering the 
whole land or region in which the human race lived 
—probably the lower valley of the Tigris and the 
Euphrates—but not the whole earth. The Hebrew 
word for "earth" may also mean "land." If the 
Bible says that "the whole land" was deluged, the 
statement contains a truth quite different from that 
implied in the phrase "the whole earth." The use 
of universal for particular terms is of frequent oc-
currence in the Bible (Cf. e.g., Deuteronomy 2:25; 
Acts 2:5). The Orientals are fond of hyperboles and 
extravagant utterances. To explain their assertions 
accurately,- we interpret their speech according to 
the mind of the speaker and of the hearer. 

Certain scientific considerations also oppose the 



20" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

view that the deluge was geographically universal. 
In the first place, no such geological traces can be 
found as ought to have been left by a universal 
flood. Secondly, the amount of water required to 
cover the highest mountains surpasses all imagi-
nation. The Biblical account implies that water was 
not specially created for the deluge, and that it was 
not annihilated subsequently. Whence, then, did all 
the water come, and where is it now? Thirdly, if 
the Biblical deluge were geographically universal, 
the sea water and fresh water would mix to such 
an extent that neither the marine animals nor the 
fresh-water animals could have lived in the mixture 
without a miracle. Finally, if the deluge covered 
only a limited portion of the earth's surface, namely, 
the portion inhabited by the human race, then only 
the animals of that section were taken into the ark, 
and the ingenious calculations how all the different 

animals—from remote regions and different zones 
and how all the necessary provisions could have 
been housed in the ark, become unnecessary. 

The claim that, if the flood were not universal, 
Noe could have saved himself—in some other way 
than building the ark, is beside the point. Noe, who 
is held up by St. Paul as a great hero of faith, 
obeyed the command of God implicitly, not knowing 
what proportions the deluge would assume. Nor is 
it true that Noe could have saved himself by fleeing 
to distant mountains; even in our day a minor 
transitory flood reduces men to utter helplessness in 
a few hours. 

Anthropological Universality of the Flood 
Did the deluge destroy the whole human race, 

that is, was it anthropologically universal? Science 



THE FLOOD AND THE ARK 21 

does not necessarily demand the limitation of the 
flood to certain parts of the human race, and hence 
the question must be decided solely by the teaching 
of the Bible and of Tradition. In this regard, St. 
Peter makes it clear that all men not contained in 
the ark perished: "The ark was a building wherein 
a few, that is, eight souls, were saved" (I Peter 3: 
20) ; "The world that then was, being overflowed 
with water, perished" (II Peter 3:6). "God . . . 
spared not the original world, but preserved Noe, 
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly" 
(II Peter 2:5). 

Relative Anthropological Universality 
The doctrine of the relative anthropological uni-

versality of the flood, propounded recently by Wil-
liam M. Agar'1 ', which implies that the flood swept 
away only a portion of mankind, though taught by 
several scholars is not acceptable. The Fathers of 
the Church regarded the flood as a symbol of origi-
nal sin, the ark as a type of baptism and of the 
Church. Just as baptism is the sole means of sal-
vation from original sin, so the ark was the only 
means of escape from the flood in the days of Noe. 
In other words, the fathers taught implicity that the 
flood was anthropologically universal—that all men 
outside of the ark perished. In propounding this 
interpretation the Fathers spoke as witnesses of 
Tradition and not as private teachers, and hence 
their teaching belongs to the traditional doctrine of 
the Church. 

How could Noe pack the animals—together 
with the provisions necessary to feed them—into the 
ark? On the basis of the data furnished by the Book 

(1) "Catholicism and the Progress of Science" (New York 1940) pp. 50-51. 



22" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

of Genesis, architects and engineers calculate that, 
even if four fifths of the entire space of the ark were 
used for storage purposes there would still be room 
for approximately seven thousand distinct species of 
animals. Due to its shape and the absence of steer-
ing gear, it could carry one third of a load more 
than another ship of its size. 

Whence did Noe derive his power over the 
animals so as to be able to gather them into the 
ark? It is said that the wildest of animals become 
tame and tractable when face to face with a terrible 
impending catastrophe. Then, too, Noe could have 
chosen young pairs Of animals which were not only 
tractable but required less room. Eggs or larvae 
would have been sufficient in case of insects and 
reptiles. 

The stability of the ark was in no way impaired 
because nails and iron tools were not used in the 
process of construction. Men fastened together 
boards and pieces of wood by coating the joints 
with pitch. The pitch or bitumen was especially 
suited for closing up the interstices of the timbers 
and making a vessel watertight. Long before the in-
troduction of nails and iron tools, pitch was com-
monly used, especially in the construction of the 
very first Egyptian ships. 

In the sixth chapter of the Book of Genesis, Noe 
is said to have been ordered to take two of a sort—a 
male and a female—"of every living creature of all 
flesh" into the ark (Genesis 6:19); in the seventh, 
Noe received the following command: "Of all clean 
beasts take seven and seven, the male and the 
female. But of the beasts that are unclean two and 
two, the male and the female. Of the fowls also of 



THE FLOOD AND THE ARK 23 

the air seven and seven, the male and female" 
(Genesis 7:2, 3). Are we, then, in the presence of 
two contradictory prescriptions? One of these 
affirms in general terms that all animals clean and 
unclean were to go into the ark by pairs "that seed 
may be saved upon the face of the whole earth" 
(Gen. 7, 3); the other, supplementary to the first, 
states in particular how many clean and unclean 
animals were to go in by pairs. Noe needed more 
clean than unclean animals because of the sacrifice 
to be offered; moreover, clean animals undoubtedly 
furnished the meat during the voyage. 

Discussion Aids 
1. Does the New Testament accept the deluge 

as a historical fact? 
2. Have all nations preserved the story of the 

flood? Explain. How are we ultimately to 
account for this fact? 

3. Was the Biblical account of the deluge taken 
from the Babylonian narrative? 

4. Did the flood cover the whole earth? Give 
several reasons for your answer. 

5. Could Noe save himself in some other way 
than by building the ark? 

6. Did the flood extinguish all men? 
7. What is meant by the relative anthropologi-

cal universality of the flood? May we accept 
this theory? 

8. What was the size of the ark? 
9. Could it be built without nails? 

10. Why did Noe take into the ark more clean 
than unclean animals? 



BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

Religious Practices 

1. I will receive the word of God with the same 
deep religious faith as Noe did. 

2. I will see in the deluge God's unalterable 
opposition to sin. 

3. I will always regard the Catholic Church, 
prefigured by the ark, as the divinely insti-
tuted means of salvation. 



Chapter III 

lll-Fated Cities 
The Tower of Babel 

The account of the building of the Tower of 
Babel and of the confusion of tongues is found in 
Genesis 11 :l-9: 

"And the earth was of one tongue, and of 
the same speech. 
And when they removed from the east, they 
found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and 
dwelt in it. 
And each one said to his neighbor: Come, 
let us make brick, and bake them with fire. 
And they had brick instead of stones, and 
slime instead of mortar. 
And they said: Come, let us make a city and 
a tower, the top whereof may reach to 
heaven: and let us make our name famous 
before we be scattered abroad into all lands. 
And the Lord came down to see the city and 
tower, which the children of Adam were build-
ing. 
And he said: Behold, it is one people, and 
all have one tongue: and they have begun to 
do this, neither will they leave off from 
their designs, till they accomplish them 
in deed. 
Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there 
confound their tongue, that they may not 
understand one another's speech. 



26" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 
And so the Lord scattered them from that 
place into all lands, and they ceased to build 
the city. 
And therefore the name thereof was called 
Babel, because there the language of the 
whole earth was confounded: and from thence 
the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face 
of all countries." 

According to Josephus, the motive for building 
the tower was the fear of another deluge and the 
hope that the high tower would protect them from 
the waters. 

The expression, "a tower the top whereof may 
reach to heaven," is here used in much the same way 
as the modern term, "skyscraper"—namely, as a 
hyperbole. Just as the word "skyscraper" does not 
mean that the building literally scrapes the sky, so 
also the Biblical description does not imply that the 
tower of Babel would be lost up in the skies. This 
manner of speech was common in ancient times. 
The cities of the Canaanites were said to be "great 
and walled up to the sky" (Deuteronomy 1:28; 9:1). 
Homer in his Odyssey (5:239) speaks of a pine tree 
"high as heaven." Secondly, the passage is not to be 
understood to mean—and the narrative makes no 
such statement—that all the languages and dialects 
of ancient and modern times were miraculously 
formed at Babel; for the separation of nations and 
tribes and the evolution of languages and dialects 
have been going on ever since. 

Modern scholars identify the Biblical Tower of 
Babel with the ruins of Babil within the old city of 
Babylon or with Birs Nimroud some miles away. 
The constructions, which today exist only in a ruined 



ILL-FATED CITIES 27 

condition in Babylonia, resemble in form the more 
ancient pyramids of Egypt. Excavations show that 
these Babylonian temples and sanctuaries rose in 
several pyramidal steplike sections. The storied 
Tower of Birs Nimroud counts seven of these quad-
rangular platforms painted in seven colors. These 
separate stories were formed by cubic blocks of 
masonry, decreasing in size, and piled one on top of 
the other. The interior of these towers consisted of 
sun-dried clay; the outer walls were coated with 
fire-baked brick; the asphalt from the neighborhood 
served as mortar. All these details acquire a new 
value when viewed in the light of the Biblical narra-
tive. Herodotus (1:179) gives us a description of 
the construction of the Babylonian walls which 
greatly resembles the Biblical narrative of the 
Tower. 

We must be careful not to consider the building 
of the Tower of Babel in terms of modern machinery 
and of modern methods of engineering and con-
struction. The immense amount of material, time 
and labor necessary to build the Tower becomes 
apparent when we recall a few facts about the kin-
dred structures; namely, the Egyptian pyramids. 
The Great Pyramid of Egypt covers thirteen acres. 
It is a solid mass of masonry containing 2,300,000 
blocks of limestone, each weighing on an average 
two and a half tons. History tells that a hundred 
thousand men worked on this royal tomb for twenty 
years. 

These facts shed new light on another phe-
nomenon connected with the Tower of Babel; 
namely, the "confusion of tongues." Catholic schol-
ars explain the "confusion of tongues" as an imme-



28" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

diate and direct miracle. Up to that time all 
mankind spoke one and the same language. At the 
Tower of Babel God confused the builders so that 
they could no longer understand one another, and 
they had to devise new languages. 

Some Catholic exegetes maintain, though per-
haps less conformably to the Scriptural text, that 
God brought about the "confusion of tongues" 
through created agencies. The simple and limited 
vocabulary of the men of Sennaar did not cover 
this new project and enterprise—the building of 
a tower. New names had to be found for many 
of the objects and operations connected with it. 
If the vast army of laborers was divided into 
twenty or thirty companies, and if each lived 
apart from one another, each group would not only 
invent and give currency to new terms but would 
eventually develop its own provincialism and dialect. 
When the different groups convened to work on the 
tower, there ensued a great confusion of words and 
expressions—as well as an irreconcilable contradic-
tion of counsels and opinions about the operation 
and various circumstances of the building. As a 
result, the work was abandoned, the company dis-
rupted, and the builders dispersed to various parts 
of the earth where they developed their own lan-
guage. 

Sodom and Gomorrha 
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha is 

narrated in the following passage of the Book of 
Genesis: "And the Lord rained upon Sodom and 
Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of 
heaven. And He destroyed those cities and all the 
country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and 



ILL-FATED CITIES 29 

all things that spring from the earth. And his wife 
(the wife of Lot) looking behind her, was turned 
into a statue of salt" (Genesis 19:24-26). Catholic 
scholars teach that the cities were destroyed by a 
rain of ignited sulphur which fell miraculously from 
heaven. Some Scripturists point out that God in His 
punishments and interventions often uses created 
agencies. Thus, He brought locusts upon Egypt 
with an east wind and drove them back with a west 
wind. Is it possible, then, that God also made use of 
some natural agency in destroying the two wicked 
cities? 

The spot where probably the two cities once 
stood now forms a part of the Dead Sea. At present 
the northern part of the Dead Sea is about thirteen 
hundred feet deep, the southern only about sixteen 
feet deep. Originally, the Sea comprised only the 
northern part; the two cities stood where the south-
ern part of the Sea is now. The foundation on which 
the two cities stood abounded in salt and was per-
meated with bitumen. This bitumen was probably 
set on fire by lightning which God sent down from 
above, and burned itself out while devouring at the 
same time the two cities. This catastrophe, as the 
scientists tell us, was probably accompanied by a 
volcanic eruption which overwhelmed also the cities 
of the plain. The bed of the Dead Sea rose and 
poured itself info the blackened pit. 

The ancients speak a good deal of the bitumen 
which surrounded the lake. Diodorus affirms that 
the masses of bitumens were like islands. Even 
today travelers testify to the existence of bitumen 
on the shores and waters of the Dead Sea. Espe-
cially after the earthquakes of 1834 and 1837 large 



32" 
BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

quantities of bitumen were cast upon the southern 
shore, probably detached by shocks from the bottom 
of the southern bay. 

It is well to keep in mind, however, that the 
whole event was the result of God's intervention. 
The revelation to Abraham, the visit of the angels, 
the deliverance of Lot stamp the whole incident as 
miraculous, whatever method God may have used in 
punishing the inhabitants of the two cities. 

The death of Lot's wife has been rendered more 
intelligible by such recent excavations as those of 
Pompei. The writer has seen at Pompei human 
bodies which, during the eruptions of Vesuvius in 
90 B.C., where petrified in all the various actions of 
life. Thus, at the gate of the city is to be seen the 
figure of a Roman soldier who stood erect at his 
post until the lava transformed him into a statue 
of stone. Despite the warning of the angel, Lot's 
wife, in her unbelief and disobedience, halted. A 
fiery dust suddenly overtook her, her body was in-
crusted by the rocksalt that blew about, and she was 
literally changed into a pillar of salt. In the time 
of St. Irenaeus and Tertullian men still pointed to 
a pillar of salt near the Dead Sea which they identi-
fied with Lot's wife. 

The Dead or Salt Sea stands as a mute and 
changeless witness to the terrible events which once 
happened on its shores. Its extreme saltiness was 
known to all the ancients. Its taste is intensely and 
intolerably salty. Its specific gravity and its buoy-
ancy are so great that people can swim or float in it, 
who can not swim in any other water. This exces-
sive saltiness is probably caused by the immense 
masses of fossil salts which lie in a mountain at its 



ILL-FATED CITIES 31 

southwest border, and by the rapid evaporation of 
the fresh water which flows into it. Both ancient 
and modern writers assert that nothing animal or 
vegetable lives in the Sea. The few living things 
which the River Jordan washes down into it, are 
quickly destroyed. Even its shores, incrusted with 
salt, present the appearance of utter desolation. 

In the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha 
countess generations have seen and will see the evi-
dence of God's inalterable opposition to sin and 
especially to all unnatural vices. Lust had crept 
under the roof of every home in these two cities. 
Sodomy had transformed the cities into a den of 
vice. Citizens, guests, strangers—and even angels— 
were looked upon with unnatural sinful desires. 
God warned and pleaded—but in vain. In His un-
changing holiness He flashed forth fire and kindled 
the saline, bituminous, and oily foundations of the 
cities, and burned all sinful flesh to a brittle mass. 

Discussion Aids 
Set I 

1. What passage in Genesis tells of the Tower 
of Babel? 

2. What is the meaning of the phrase, "the 
tower the top whereof may reach to 
heaven"? 

3. Did all languages miraculously originate at 
the Tower? 

4. Are there any ruins today which throw 
light on the Tower of Babel? 

5. What other constructions do these ruins re-
semble? 



34" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

6. How were these towers built? 
7. Describe the Great Pyramid. 
8. Explain the "confusion of tongues." 

Set II 

1. What scriptural passage tells us of the De-
struction of Sodom and Gomorrha? 

2. How did God destroy these two cities? 
3. Explain how Lot's wife was turned into a 

pillar of salt. 
4. What today stands as a silent witness to the. 

destruction of these two cities? 
5. What attribute of God does the destruction 

of Sodom and Gomorrha emphasize? 

Religious Practices 

1. I will never permit pride or any other 
human or sinful motive to actuate me in my 
religious undertakings. 

2. I will see in the destruction of Sodom and 
Gomorrha God's judgment upon sin. 

3. I will restrain my eyes from all unnecessary 
curiosity. 



Chapter IV 

Esau and Jacob 
Jacob's craftiness in depriving Esau of his 

birthright and his cunning in stealing Esau's bless-
ing are represented by the infidel as indicative of 
the low standards of morality in the Old Testament. 
This conclusion of the nonbeliever, however, is 
hardly justified if the incident is inserted into its 
context and placed in its proper historical setting. 

The birthright comprised four prerogatives. 
In the first place the first-born was "lord of his 
brethren" so that his "mother's children" were ob-
liged to "bow down" before him (Genesis 27:29); 
in other words, at a certain moment the firstborn 
attained to paternal dignity in the family. Secondly, 
in the division of the paternal inheritance, the first-
born obtained a "double portion" (Deuteronomy 
21:17). Thirdly, after the deluge the firstborn exer-
cised the role of a priest in the family; eventually, 
however, the tribe of Levi was chosen by God to re-
place all the firstborn of Israel (Numbers 3:12). 
Finally, the firstborn received from his aged or 
dying father a special blessing; this blessing was 
prized very highly and considered as of special effi-
cacy with God. In this blessing the father besought 
for his firstborn temporal prosperity and wealth, 
primacy among his brothers, domination over peo-
ples and tribes, and God's special protective care 
and Providence. In the family of Abraham there 
was, in addition, the promise of peculiar spiritual 
blessings and privileges which were transmitted 
from father to son. 

Although Esau was born first, the birthright 



34" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

by divine election was destined for Jacob. When 
Rebecca in the anxieties of her pregnancy com-
plained to the Lord, God foretold to her that the 
older boy would serve the younger: "two nations 
are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided 
out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the 
other and the elder shall serve the younger" 
(Genesis 25:23). The prophet Malachias places in 
the mouth of the Lord a Hebraism affirming that 
God loved Esau less than Jacob: "I have loved 
Jacob, but have hated Esau" (Malachias 1: 2, 3). 
St. Paul (Romans 9) touches upon the same subject 
and shows that the election to the privilege of 
being a depository of God's blessings upon earth 
is indeed inscrutable but not unjust or unmerciful. 
Such election only shows that God chooses men as 
His instruments, not because of their merits but 
because of His mercy and great goodness. 

Although the privileges of the birthright were 
to be Jacob's by the disposition of God, the manner 
in which Jacob entered into the possession of these 
prerogatives was—at least objectively and materi-
ally—sinful. The root of Jacob's sins was his want 
of faith and confidence in God. Both he and Rebecca 
knew that God had chosen him to be the heir of the 
promises. Like Abraham they ought to have had 
confidence that God would carry out His promises 
even if they could not then see how. Instead of this, 
they took matters into their own hands and com-
mitted sin. 

In the first place, Jacob manifested a sinful 
selfishness when he turned Esau's strong desire for 
food to his own advantage and demanded such a 
high price for it. The event is narrated in Genesis 



ESAU AND JACOB 35 

25:29-34: "And Jacob boiled pottage; to whom Esau 
coming faint out of the field said: Give me of this 
red pottage, for I am exceedingly faint. For which 
reason his name was called Edom. And Jacob said 
to him: Sell me thy first birthright. He answered: 
Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me? 
Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to 
him, and sold his first birthright. And so taking 
bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate and drank, 
and went his way, making little account of having 
sold his first birthright." Incidentally, the event 
shows how little qualified Esau was for the office of 
the firstborn. The promise of future spiritual bless-
ings was to Esau of little account compared with the 
desire of present gratification of appetite. His con-
tempt for that which was an object of faith rather 
than of sense and sight, brings out only too clearly 
his profane and worldly character. 

Since God decreed the birthright for Jacob even 
before the birth of the two boys, and since Esau re-
linquished all right to Isaac's blessing and to the 
privileges of a firstborn when he sold his birthright, 
it seems strange at first sight that Isaac insisted 
on imparting his blessing to Esau. It is probable, 
however, that Isaac did not consider the divine 
promise as in itself invalidating the right of the 
firstborn. It is possible, too, that he was not aware 
of Esau's selling his birthright, and if he did know 
about it, he refused to approve and confirm Esau's 
action; this would explain, too, why Esau came forth 
for his father's blessing. At any rate, Rebecca and 
Jacob sinned by deceiving Isaac and by telling a lie 
in order to obtain his blessing. Isaac, on the other 
hand, allowed carnal and worldly motives to weigh 



36" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

with him: "Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his 
hunting" (Genesis 25:28). It was by appealing to 
his appetite for food that Jacob accomplished the 
deception of his father. 

Two conclusions must be drawn from the Bibli-
cal narrative concerning Jacob and Esau: First, 
God did not transfer His blessings from Esau to 
Jacob in return for the latter's craftiness and dis-
honesty. God did not put a premium on sin. Al-
mighty God had from all eternity chosen Jacob to 
be the heir of His promises. Now, the faults of men 
cannot alter what He had ordained; the sins where-
by Jacob actually obtained the birthright and filched 
the blessing did not change the divine decree—just 
as Peter's denial of Christ did not reverse God's 
election of Peter for the primacy in the Church. 

Secondly, the Bible nowhere approves or praises 
Jacob's trespasses; it does not hold up his conduct 
for our imitation. On the contrary, the Bible clearly 
shows how bitterly Jacob had to expiate his sins. He 
had to fly from his home and for twenty years serve 
under a severe taskmaster—his kinsman Laban. 
Rebecca, too, did her share of penance. During all 
these years she was separated from that son who 
was the light of her life. In addition, she was made 
weary by the dissensions in the family. Let us re-
call, too, how God punished Jacob through his own 
children, as the history of Joseph and his brethren 
shows. By all these trials Jacob was confirmed in 
piety and humility, trained to be a holy man of God, 
and made worthy of the promises made to Abraham. 
Esau, on the other hand, married two pagan Hethite 
women and became estranged from the traditions of 
his tribe, and from the Lord, his God. ' 



ESAU AND JACOB 37 
Deception and Treachery in the Old Testament 

The Bible records several other cases of de-
ception which resemble the fraud perpetrated by 
Jacob and Rebecca: 

1) Abraham deceived Pharao and Abimelech 
by affirming that Sara, with whom he was travel-
ling, was not his wife but his sister: 

"And when he was near to enter into Egypt, 
he said to Sara his wife: I know that thou art a 
beautiful woman, and that when the Egyptians shall 
see thee, they will say: She is his wife; and they 
will kill me, and keep thee. Say, therefore, I pray 
thee, that thou art my sister, that I may be well 
used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy 
sake." (Genesis 12:11-13). 

"Abraham removed from thence to the south 
country, and dwelt between Cades and Sur, and so-
journed in Gerera. And he said of Sara his wife: 
She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Gerera 
sent, and took her. And God came to Abimelech in 
a dream by night, and said to him: Lo thou shalt 
die for the womarj thou hast taken, for she hath a 
husband. Now Abimelech had not touched her, and 
he said: Lord, wilt thou slay a nation, that is igno-
rant and just? Did not he say to me: She is my 
sister; and she say, He is my brother?" (Genesis 
20:1-5). 

2) Isaac practiced the same deception as his 
father: "So Isaac abode in Gerara. And when he 
was asked by the men of that place, concerning his 
wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was 
afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking 
lest perhaps they would kill him because of her 
beauty" (Genesis 26:6-7). 



40" 
BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

3) Jahel offered Sisara hospitality and then 
treacherously murdered him: "And Jahel. went 
forth to meet Sisara, and said to him: Come in to 
me, my lord, come in, fear not. He went in to her 
tent, and being covered by her with a cloak, said to 
her: Give me, I beseech thee, a little water, for I 
am very thirsty. She opened a bottle of milk, and 
gave him to drink, and covered him. And Sisara 
said to her: Stand before the door of the tent, and 
when any shall come and inquire of thee, saying: 
Is there any man here? thou shalt say: There is 
none. So Jahel, Haber's wife, took a nail of the tent, 
and taking also a hammer, and going in softly, and 
with silence, she put the nail upon the temples of 
his head, and striking it with the hammer, drove it 
through his brain fast into the ground, and so 
passing from deep sleep to death, he fainted away 
and died" (Judges 4:18-21). 

4) Judith by lying and deception made her 
way into the camps of Holofernes, and when the 
latter became intoxicated cut off his head (Judith 
9 to 12). 

In passing judgment on situations such as these 
it is well to recall once more the following princi-
ples: first, the Bible nowhere approves or recom-
mends lying, fraud, deception, and treachery but 
rather points out that divine punishment quickly 
overtakes those who are guilty of these sins; second, 
the Bible nowhere approves of the teaching that 
one may do evil in order that good would result; 
third, the Bible gives us a frank, objective, im-
partial history of the patriarchs without in any 
Way minimizing or concealing their sinful conduct 
and evil deeds; in fact, would not the trustworthi-



ESAU AND JACOB 39 

ness of the Old Testament become suspect if it 
pictured the patriarchs as men free from all short-
comings and frailties—as paragons of virtue? 

Abraham, strictly speaking, did not lie, because 
as he himself explains to Abimelech "otherwise also 
she (Sara) is truly my sister, the daughter ot my 
father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I 
took her to wife. And after God brought me out of 
my father's house, I said to her: Thou shalt do me 
this kindness: In every place, to which we shall 
come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother" (Genesis 
20:12-13). Augustine defends Abraham as having 
"said she was his sister, without denying that she 
was his wife, concealing the truth but not speaking 
what was false" (c. Faustum 22:3). If it be said 
that Abraham endangered his wife's honor and 
chastity in order to save his own life, it must also 
be kept in mind that Abraham had an absolute faith 
in God's providence and protection. 

Isaac called Rebecca his sister because she was 
his cousin. According to the celebrated lexicogra-
pher, Gesenius the Hebrew word "brother" was 
used to designate not only a brother in the strict 
sense but a nephew, cousin, husband, relative, mem-
bers of the same race, ally and friend. 

The book of Judges praises Jahel's patriotism 
and her devotion to God and to the chosen people — 
not her murderous treachery. In the same way, 
Judith is praised for her strength and love of her 
people, not for her fraud and deception. We find 
something similar in the Parable of the Unjust 
Steward (Luke 16:1-9): While the steward is 
lauded for his foresight he is not praised for the 



40" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 
means which he took to make provision for the 
future. 

Discussion Aids 
1. What four prerogatives did the birthright 

comprise? 
2. For which of the two boys was the birth-

right destined by divine election? 
3. Indicate the sinful ways in which Rebecca 

and Jacob tried to obtain possession of the 
birthright. 

4. Since the birthright was destined for Jacob, 
why did Isaac bless Esau? 

5. Did God transfer His blessings from Esau to 
Jacob because of the latter's craftiness? 

6. Does the Bible praise Jacob's conduct? 
7. Did Jacob and Rebecca do penance for their 

sins? 
8. Mention other cases of apparent fraud and 

treachery in the Old Testament? How are 
these cases to be explained? 

9. Does the Bible approve of fraud and deceit? 
10. Does the narration of the sins of the patri-

archs increase your faith in the trustworthi-
ness of the Old Testament? Why? 

Religious Practices 

1. I will have faith in God's Providence and 
promises and not try to force His Hand. 

2. I will be truthful in my statements and 
avoid all treachery and deceit. 

3. I will frequently recall that one may never 
do evil in order that good may come of it. 



Chapter V 

Exodus from Egypt 
The Ten Plagues 

The exodus of the Jews from Egypt was pre-
ceded by the ten plagues. These ten calamities, in-
flicted on the Egyptians to overcome Pharaoh's 
obstinacy and force him to allow the Israelites to 
leave Egypt, were the following: pollution of the 
water, frogs, insects, flies, cattle pest, boils, hail, 
locusts, darkness, and the slaying of the first born 
of man and beast. Although profane records fur-
nish no confirmation of the ten plagues we cannot 
accept the theory of the infidels that the Biblical 
narrative is unhistorical or that it narrates purely 
natural events. For Moses describes the plagues as 
real occurrences and as miracles; He affirms that 
they were due to the direct interposition of God, 
that they came on the appointed day and ceased at 
the command of Moses. 

Some of the events mentioned above, it is true, 
occurred periodically or from time to time in Egypt; 
frogs bred in unusual numbers in the Nile and in 
the swamps; the south wind brought clouds of 
locusts or sand which obscured the sun. The ten 
plagues, however, were miraculous because of the 
manner in which they were produced. They came 
at unusual seasons, were exceptionally intense, and 
were not due solely to natural causes but to the 
direct intervention of God. The upper Nile, to cite 
only one instance, regularly assumes during the 
period of inundation a dark-red color because of the 



42" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

presence of certain microscopic animalcules; but the 
discoloration brought about by the command of 
Moses extended not only to the river but also to all 
the canals and pools of Egypt, the water became 
corrupted so that the Egyptians could not drink it, 
and even the fishes died (Exodus 7:14-25). Finally, 
if the ten plagues were natural events, why did not 
the fifth, seventh, ninth, and tenth visit the land of 
Goshen? Why did the tenth select its victim ac-
cording to method and effect only the firstborn in 
Egyptian homes? Finally, would natural occur-
rences, so well known to the Egyptians, have pro-
duced the deep impression on Pharaoh and His 
court? 

Passage of the Red Sea 
An important event in the exodus was the 

passage of the Red Sea. The exact locality where 
the children of Israel crossed cannot be determined. 
Some authors maintain that at the time of the 
exodus the western arm of the Red Sea, now called 
the Gulf of Suez from the modern town near its 
northern extremity, extended some thirty or forty 
miles farther north; they admit for the actual place 
of crossing some point of this extension of the Red 
Sea. Others, on the contrary, think that in the time 
of Moses the northern limit of the Gulf of Suez did 
not vary much, if at all, from what it is today; they 

•maintain that the .crossing took place at some point 
at the head of the gulf, not far north of the present 
Suez. 

The Biblical narrative clearly teaches the mira-
culous character of the passage of the Red Sea. Yet 
here, too, it is possible that God in bringing about 
the miracle made use of created agencies. The Bibli-



EXODUS FROM EGYPT 43 

cal account explicitly brings in the wind as an 
agency employed by Providence to dry the land: 
"And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over 
the sea, the Lord took it away by a strong and burn-
ing wind blowing all the night, and turned it into 
dry ground: and the water was divided" (Exodus 
14:21). At Suez, the tide together with a strong 
wind has been seen to drive back the Sea for a con-
siderable distance. A strong wind has been known 
to make the waters of Lake Menzaleh (at the Medi-
terranean entrance to the Suez Canal) recede for 
a distance of seven miles. Something similar was 
observed in Crimea in 1738. 

The Manna 
During their forty years' sojourn in the desert, 

the Jews were fed with manna, a food sent to them 
miraculously from heaven. The manna fell for the 
first time while the Israelites were in the desert of 
Sin, six weeks after their departure from Egypt, 
and thenceforth fell daily, except on the Sabbath, 
till they arrived in the plain of Jericho. It was like 
"coriander seed white" (Exodus 16:31). It fell 
during the night in small white flakes or grains 
which covered the ground and presented the ap-
pearance of hoarfrost. The manna had to be gather-
ed in the morning as the heat of the sun melted it. 
On the eve of the Sabbath a double portion was 
gathered. The manna is described as having the 
taste of "flour with honey" or "bread tempered with 
oil." Although it could be eaten in its natural state, 
it was usually ground in a mill or beaten in a mortar 
and then baked into cakes. When kept overnight it 
putrefied and bred worms, except the portion which 
was reserved for the Sabbath. 



44" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 
Some have attempted to identify the Biblical 

manna with juice exuded by the tamarisk or by the 
so-called Camel's Thorn. Others think they have 
discovered a true manna in a lichen, found in West-
ern Asia and North Africa, which easily scales off, 
and being carried away by the wind, sometimes falls 
in the form of a rain. But this identity is far from 
being established. The Biblical manna was not found 
under the tamarisk tree but on the surface of the 
wilderness. The tamarisk-manna is almost pure 
sugar, it does not decay or breed worms but keeps 
indefinitely. It could not have furnished the nour-
ishment for forty years, or the large quantity re-
quired daily by the Israelites. The tamarisk-manna 
is exuded only at a certain season, whereas the 
Biblical manna fell throughout the year; in its sea-
son, however, the tararisk-manna is exuded daily, 
including the Sabbath. The Biblical manna con-
tinued to fall on their route even after the Israelites 
left the district where the tamarisk-manna is pro-
duced, namely, the region between the Wady Ghar-
andel and the Wady Scheich. The lichen-manna is 
dry and insipid and possesses little nutritive value. 
The Biblical manna has always been regarded as a 
type and symbol of the Eucharist. 

The Decalogue 
The Decalogue was given directly to Moses by 

God on Mt. Sinai, some time after the departure of 
the Jews from Egypt. The Book of Exodus tells us 
that God was the author of the two tables of stone 
as well as of the law written upon them: "And the 
Lord said to Moses: Come up to Me into the mount, 
and be there, and I will give thee tables of stone, 
and the law, and the commandments which I have 



EXODUS FROM EGYPT 45 

written, that thou mayest teach them" (Exodus 
24:12); "And the Lord, when He had ended these 
words in Mount Sinai, gave to Moses two stone 
tables of testimony, written with the finger of God" 
(Exodus 31:18); "And Moses returned from the 
mount, carrying the two tables of the testimony in 
his hand, written on both sides, and made by the 
work of God: the writing also of God was graven 
in the tables" (Exodus 32:15, 16). The New Testa-
ment calls attention to a further detail in the giving 
of the law; namely, the ministry of angels. St. 
Stephen tells the Jews that although they "received 
the law by the disposition of angels," they had not 
kept it (Acts 7:53). St. Paul recalls to the Galatians 
that the law was "ordained by angels in the hand 
of a mediator" (Galatians 3:19). While God was 
the author of the Law and appeared in a sensible 
manner to proclaim it, the angels ordained the ex-
ternal circumstances which accompanied the pro-
mulgation of the law. 

God's authorship of the two stone tablets is not 
to be understood as implying that God slowly fash-
ioned them with corporeal hands and then carved 
upon them the Ten Commandments. If God fash-
ioned the tablets, He formed them immediately and 
directly—together with the writing upon them—by 
converting pre-existent matter. Such a formation 
of the tablets would belong to the same category of 
divine works as the multiplication of the loaves or 
the fashioning of Adam's body out of the chemical 
elements of the earth. Consonantly with New Testa-
ment doctrine, the formation of the tablets and the 
writing upon them is to be attributed to angelic 
agency. Revelation tells us that on certain oc-



46" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

casions the angels assumed bodies and through the 
instrumentality of these bodies exercised great 
powers. This angelic ministry would not derogate 
from God's primary authorship, since the angels 
acted in His name and accurately reproduced His 
divine message. 

By adoring the golden calf the Jews broke the 
promise which they made to God. To symbolize 
that God had in turn revoked His pact with the 
Jews, jMoses destroyed the tables of stone "at the 
foot of the mount" (Exodus 32:19). When the Jews 
repented of their sin, God permitted Moses to re-
produce the tables of stone together with the in-
scription upon them. The renewal of the tablets 
was intended to impress upon the Jews God's un-
alterable hatred for superstition and idolatry and 
to indicate His renewed adherence to the pact es-
tablished between Himself and the Jews. 

The history of the Mosaic tablets henceforth 
becomes indissolubly linked with the history of the 
Ark of the Covenant—a chest of precious wood and 
of gold in which the tables of the law were pre-
served. The Ark accompanied the Jews in their 
wanderings and frequently in their military expedi-
tions, although it was usually kept in a sacred place 
in the tabernacle and later on in the temple. With 
the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. the Ark 
disappears from human history. According to Second 
Machabees 2:4-8, the prophet Jeremías hid it in an 
unidentified cave on Mt. Nebo. 

Returning for a moment to the theophanies on 
Mt. Sinai, let us note that Moses did not behold there 
the Divine Essence. In fact, God as a pure spirit, is 
not perceptible by the corporeal eye nor can He 



EXODUS FROM EGYPT 47 

utter audible sounds. God appeared to Moses under 
a visible, sensible form. In this corporeal form God 
conversed with Moses in a familiar, friendly man-
ner. Yet, the two conversed as friends in an ob-
scure place. Moses was not allowed to see the face 
of the Lord Who spoke to him from within the cloud; 
he was not allowed to catch a glimpse of God's coun-
tenance under a sensible form. For God had decreed 
that, to avoid idolatry and superstition, there was 
to be no sensible representation of the Deity. Though 
Moses was not allowed to behold God's face, the rays 
of splendor which emanated from God's bright 
figure adhered to Moses' countenance." His face ap-
peared "horned," that is "radiant." Possibly, too, 
the rays of light which emanated from Moses' face 
took the form of horns. These rays were a con-
firmation of the truths which Moses testified he 
heard on the Mount. 

The message inscribed on the stone tablets is 
frequently referred to as the Decalogue. The word 
"decalogue" is derived from the Greek terms deka 
meaning "Ten" and logos meaning "word." The 
literal meaning of "decalogue," then, is, Ten Words 
or Sayings. The number ten is vouched for by 
several passages: "He (Moses) wrote upon the 
tablets the ten words of the covenant" (Exodus 
34:28): "He showed you his covenant, which he 
commanded you to do, and the ten words that he 
wrote in two tables of stone" (Deuteronomy 4:13). 
The Decalogue designates the collection of com-
mandments and precepts which Moses received from 
God amid the thunders of Mt. Sinai and which he 
made the groundwork of the Mosaic Law. These 
commandments bear on the fundamental obligations 



48" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

of religion and morality and embody the revealed 
expression of the Creator's will in regard to man's 
duty to God and to his fellow creatures. Joined to 
some of the commandments are short explanations, 
stating the reason of the sanction of the precept in 
question. It is possible that the two tables of stone 
contained only the text of the commandments with-
out this commentary, for the tables were of such 
size that they could be conveniently carried. 

There is no numerical designation of the com-
mandments in the book of Moses. Hence there have 
arisen, as the following table will show, three sys-
tems of numbering the commandments 

I II III 
Introduction _ 1 
Polytheism i 1 

1 2 
Idolatry 2 
Profanity 2 3 3 
Sabbath 3 4 4 
Parents . 4 5 5 
Murder 5 6 6 
Adultery 6 7 7 
Theft . 7 8 8 
False Witness 1 8 9 9 
Covetousness of Wife 9 

1 10 10 
Covetousness of Goods 10 

System I is followed by Catholics and Luther-
ans. It goes back to St. Augustine who because of 
a certain fitness distinguished three commandments 
dealing with God, in order to hint at the mystery of 
the Blessed Trinity. Then, in order to obtain the 
number ten, he divided the commandment against 



EXODUS FROM EGYPT 49 

covetousness into two. The Lutherans, however, in-
vert our ninth and tenth commandment. System II 
is given by Philo, Josephus, Origen, Gregory Nazi-
anzus, and others, and is used by the Greeks and 
the Protestants (except the Lutherans). It makes 
two separate commandments of polytheism and 
idolatry, and one of covetousness. System III is used 
by modern Jews. It is unsatisfactory because it 
makes a commandment of the introductory formula 
in Exodus 20:1-2, which reads: "And the Lord 
spoke all these words : I am the Lord thy God, who 
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the 
house of bondage." System I has much to recom-
mend it: it seems logical to group at the beginning 
(polytheism and idolatry) and to seperate at the 
end (covetousness of wife and of goods) ; for while 
one single object is aimed at under worship, two 
specifically different sins are forbidden under cove-
tousness; if adultery and theft belong to two distinct 
species of sin the same ought to be said of the de-
sires to commit these evils. 

The injunctions and prohibitions set forth in 
Exodus 20:1-17 are also contained in the book of 
Deuteronomy 5:6-21. The differences in the two 
enumerations are not essential and pertain rather 
to the reasons alleged for the precepts than to the 
precepts themselves. Thus the reason for the sancti-
fication of the Sabbath in Exodus is that God rested 
on the seventh day, while in Deuteronomy the Sab-
bath is the memorial of the liberation of the Jews 
from Êgypt. In the precept against covetousness 
Exodus first mentions the neighbor's house and then 
his wife; Deuteronomy inverts the order. 

Scripture does not say how the Ten Command-



50" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

ments were divided on the two tablets. Our division, 
three duties toward God, and seven towards men, is 
based, as we have said, on St. Augustine's arrange-
ment. Another division is given by Philo and St. 
Irenaeus, in which the first tablet contained pre-
cepts of piety towards God and parents, the second, 
precepts of justice toward fellow men. According 
to Philo's system of numbering commandments 
(System II) this would give five commandments to 
each tablet, twenty-eight Hebrew words on the first 
and twenty-six on the other (leaving out the com-
mentary attached to the commandments). 

The Ten Commandments express not only the 
Creator's positive will but the natural laws as well 
—laws which govern our being and are inscribed 
upon every human heart. A written law was de-
manded by the fact that the unwritten law had be-
come obscured in men's souls by sin. 

Christ summed up the Ten Commandments in 
the double precept of charity—love of God and love 
of neighbor. He amplified and interpreted them in 
the Sermon on the Mount, and proclaimed them as 
binding under the present dispensation (cf. Mat-
thew 5:7). The Church, after changing the day of 
rest from the seventh day of the week (Sabbath) to 
the first, made the Third Commandment refer to 
Sunday as the Lord's Day. The Council of Trent 
condemned those who would affirm that the Ten 
Commandments are not binding on Christians. 

Passage Across the Jordan River 
The passage across the Jordan River is de-

scribed in the following terms: "So the people went 
out of their tents, to pass over the Jordan: and the 
priests that carried the ark of the covenant, went 



EXODUS FROM EGYPT 51 

an before them. And as soon as they came into the 
Jordan and their feet were dipped in part of the 
water (now the Jordan, it being harvest time, had 
filled the banks of its channel), the waters that 
came down from above stood in one place, and 
swelling up like a mountain, were seen afar off 
from the city that is called Adorn, to the place of 
Sarthan: but those (waters) that were beneath, ran 
down into the sea of the wilderness (which now is 
called the Dead Sea) until they wholly failed" 
(Josus 3:14-16). The drying up of the river is clear-
ly described as something miraculous: the waters 
were accumulated and held back by the hand of 
God. But it is possible that God, in bringing about 
the miracle, made use of created agencies. Farther 
up the Jordan valley, at Adom near Sarthan, where 
the channel is narrow, God at a precise moment may 
have caused a hill to topple over into the channel 
and obstruct the river for several hours. A pheno-
menon of this kind, as Father Cornely, S.J., points 
out, occurred naturally in the year A.D. 1267. 

Downfall of Jericho 
The sacred author also records a divine inter-

position in behalf of the Jews in the downfall of 
Jericho: "And the Lord said to Josue: Behold I 
have given into thy hands Jericho, and the king 
thereof, and all the valiant men. Go round about 
the city, all ye fighting men, once a day: so shall ye 
do for six days. And on the seventh day the priests 
shall take the seven trumpets, which are used in the 
jubilee, and shall go before the ark of the covenant; 
and you shall go about the city seven times, and the 
priests shall sound the trumpets. And when the 
voice of the trumpet shall give a longer and broken 



54" 
BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

tune, and shall sound in your ears, all the people 
shall shout together with a very great shout, and the 
walls of the city shall fall to the ground" jJosue 
6:2-5). This miracle was remarkably seasonable 
and appropriate. The fall of Jericho ensuing close 
upon the miraculous passage of Jordan, impressed 
on the people, prone ever to be led by the senses, 
that the same God who had delivered their fathers 
out of Egypt and led them through the Red Sea, 
was with Josue no less eifectually, than He had been 
with Moses. Nothing but a direct interference of 
the Almighty could in a week's time give a city like 
Jericho thoroughly on its guard and well prepared, 
to besiegers situated as were Josue and the Jews. 
Secondly, these same events cogently taught the in-
habitants of Canaan that the successes of Israel 
were not mere human triumphs and that the God of 
Israel was not as the false gods of the Gentiles. 

The Canaanite city of Jericho was recently ex-
cavated by Sellin. The foundations of the walls are 
still standing on the three sides but on the east they 
are destroyed. The ruins show evidences of fire 
(Josue 6:24). 

Discussion Aids 
Set I 

1. Name the ten plagues. 
2. Why were the plagues miraculous? 
3. At what exact place did the Israelites cross 

the Red Sea? 
4. Describe the miraculous character of the 

passage of the Red Sea. 
5. Describe the manna fully. 



EXODUS FROM EGYPT 53 

6. Can the manna be identified with the tama-
risk-manna or lichen-manna? 

7. Of what is the manna a type? 

Set II 
1. In what book of the Old Testament is the 

giving of the Ten Commandments described? 
2. In what sense did the angels minister in the 

giving of the Decalogue? 
3. In what sense is God the author of the stone 

tablets? 
4. What did the destruction of the tablets by 

God and their renewal symbolize? 
5. How is the Decalogue linked with the Ark? 
6. Did Moses behold God on Mt. Sinai? 
7. What is the meaning of the word "deca-

logue"? 
8. To what did the commandments refer? 
9. Describe the three systems of numbering the 

commandments. 
10. In what books, besides Exodus, is the Deca-

logue found? 
11. How were the 10 commandments divided on 

the two tablets? 
12. Why was a written law necessary? 
13. In what 2 great precepts is the Decalogue 

summed up? 

Set III 
1. Describe the miraculous passage across the 

Jordan. 
2. What was the significance of the miraculous 

fall of Jericho? 



BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

Religious Practices 

1. I will recite the Ten Commandments in con-
nection with my daily prayers and fashion 
my life according to them. 

2. I will frequently thank God for the manna 
of the Holy Eucharist which gives an im-
mortal blessed life to both body and soul. 

3. I will frequently recall the truth that when 
God destines a man for a particular office 
He will also give him the necessary helps 
and graces to fulfill it. 



Chapter VI 

Special Personages and Events 
Josue and the Sun 

The miracle of Josue's stopping the sun is re-
corded in Josue 10:12-14: 

"Then Josue spoke to the Lord, in the day 
that he delivered the Amorrhite in the sight 
of the children of Israel, and he said 
before them: Move not, O sun, toward 
Gabaon, nor thou, 0 moon, toward the valley 
of Ajalon. 
And the sun and the moon stood still, till 
the people revenged themselves of their 
enemies. Is not this written in the book 
of the just? So the sun stood still in 
the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go 
down the space of one day. 
There was not before nor after so long a 
day, the Lord obeying the voice of a man, 
and fighting for Israel." 

The event is explained by M. Hetzenauer, O.C., 
and other scholars as a miraculous prolongation of 
the rays of the sun. 

Others, as F. De Hummelauer, S.J., maintain 
that at the beginning of the battle the sky became 
so overswept with clouds and the day so dark that 
to all appearances evening had already set. In re-
sponse to Josue's prayer the clouds were changed 
into a hailstorm, and soon the sun appeared so that 
Josue could pursue the enemy. Hence, while there 



56" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

was but one ordinary day, to all external appear-
ances it seemed as two days. 

Others, as Fr. Kugler, S.J., Van Mierlo, S.J., 
and Dr. Van Hoonacker contend that the ancients 
used to designate solar and lunar eclipses, thunder-
storms, and other atmospherical darknesses as 
"rest" of the sun and moon (e.g., Habacuc 3:11). 
During the hot noon-hour in a land of heat, Josue 
prayed to God to make the sun "stand still"—to 
"rest," to be "silenced," to "cease" as the Hebrew 
word may be translated: in other words, Josue asked 
.that the sun be covered with clouds so that, in their 
cool shade, his warriors could fight with restored 
strength. Josue's prayer was forthwith heard.^ A 
thunderstorm—a very exceptional thing at this time 
of the year—broke directly over the heads of the 
fleeing enemy. Big hailstones fell from the clouds 
"and many more were killed by the hailstones than 
were slain by the swords of the children of Israel" 
(Josue 10:11). As a result of this divine assistance, 
Josue overcame the enemy more successfully in that 
one day than he could have done in two days with-
out God's help. And so one day became as two, and 
"there was not before nor after so long a day" 
(Josue 10:14). 

Witch of Endor 
Of particular interest in the first Book of Kings 

is the account of Saul's recourse to the witch of 
Endor (I Kings 28:6-25) and of Samuel's apparition 
to Saul. "And the woman said to him (Saul): whom 
shall I bring up to thee? and he said, Bring me up 
Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she 
cried out with a loud voice. . . . And Samuel said 
to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I 



SPECIAL PERSONAGES AND EVENTS *57 

should be brought up?" According to the text, Saul 
did not see the apparition; only the woman claimed 
to see Samuel. Several theories have been advanced 
to explain this apparition of Samuel: 

1. The purported apparition was a fraud, a 
case of imposture on the part of the woman. This 
explanation is unsatisfactory, because the prophet 
appeared before the witch had time to. begin her 
incarnations. 

2. With God's permission the soul of Samuel 
appeared in a visible form, in order to reveal to 
King Saul the evil which was about to fall upon him. 
In support of this opinion, it is pointed out that 
occasionally, when false gods were consulted, God 
Himself revealed the truth through one of His mes-
sengers ; thus, through the mediation of the prophet 
Elias, God declared what was to happen to those 
whom king Ochozias sent, to consult the god of 
Accaron (IV Kings 1:3). 

3. St. Thomas holds that the apparition was 
not the soul of Samuel but a demon who spoke in 
Samuel's name and who, with divine permission, 
uttered a seemingly genuine prophecy. This theory 
safeguards the dignity of a departed soul which — 
whether in purgatory or in the limbo of the just— 
is in the "hand of God" who would not permit it to 
appear to men at the behest of a sinful individual. 

Elias and Henoch 

A peculiar difficulty arises out of a narrative in 
Fourth Kings which describes the end of Elias's 
career (IV Kings 2:2). Like Henoch (Genesis 5:24) 
Elias was "translated" so that he should not taste 
death. As he was conversing with Eliseus on the 



60" 
BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

hills of Moab, "a fiery chariot, and fiery horses 
parted them both asunder, and Elias went up by a 
whirlwind into heaven," and all efforts to find him 
availed nothing. 

Commentators are agreed in affirming that 
both Henoch and Elias were transported from earth 
without physical death (Ecclesiasticus 44:16, 48:1-
15, 49:16; I Machabees 2:58; Hebrews 11:5). They 
also tell us that, according to the teaching of the 
Fathers of the Church, the two are still living in the 
bodies in which they were born. Scripture and Tra-
dition are both silent, however, as to the place and 
the manner of their actual existence. Whether they 
have been endowed temporarily with bodily incor-
ruption, a state which can exist apart from the 
glorified state, is not clear. Some of the Fathers 
identify the two prophets with the two witnesses 
of Apocalypse 11:3. It is the common teaching of 
the Fathers, on the basis of Malachias 4:4-6, that 
these two prophets will reappear at the end of the 
world to preach penance and to convert the Jews 
(Matthew 17:3-4, 10-12). 

Theologians are likewise agreed that the two 
prophets are not exempt from the universal law of 
death; but when they come to explain how the 
prophets will pay the penalty of death, these theo-
logians range themselves into two groups: the first 
group maintains that Henoch and Elias, like the 
rest of men who will live at the second coming, will 
die and slumber awhile and then be summoned to 
the judgment; many theologians subscribe to this 
opinion because death is a penalty for original sin. 
The second group maintains that those who will be 
living on the last day will be transformed directly 



SPECIAL PERSONAGES AND EVENTS *59 

without passing through the portals of death. They 
hold that, although these men may not suffer bodily 
death, the debt of death is none the less on them 
and that this punishment of death will be remitted 
directly by God Himself, who alone can forgive all 
penalties due to sin. 

Jonas and the Fish 
The Book of Jonas, unlike the other prophetical 

books of the Old Testament, does not contain the 
preaching of the author to whom the book is as-
cribed, but is rather a historical narrative in which 
Jonas figures as the principal character. The book 
relates how God commanded Jonas to preach pen-
ance in Nineve, the capital of the Assyrian kingdom. 
Jonas, however, seeks to evade the divine command. 
He boards a ship at Jaffa with a view of sailing to 
Tharsis, which some identify with Tharsis in Cilicia, 
others with Tartessus in Spain. A violent storm 
overtakes the ship. The marines finding that Jonas 
is the cause of their plight, cast him into the sea. A 
great fish prepared by the Lord, swallows the 
prophet and after three days casts him forth un-
injured on the land. 

The second chapter of the Book—which deals 
with the incident of Jonas and the fish—has received 
numerous and frequently contradictory interpreta-
tions. Some claim that the chapter is an account of 
a mere dream or vision; others, that it is an allegory 
inculcating certain divine doctrines; others, that it 
is a myth adopted by the Jews from the Greeks. 
Against all these fantastic theories we subscribe to 
the traditional conservative view—adopted by the 
majority of Catholic scholars and by the Biblical 
Commission—and accept the book of Jonas as his-



60" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

torical. Several circumstances point to the historical 
character of the book. The narrative resembles in 
its tone the history of Elias and Eliseus told in the 
inspired writings. In one of His discourses Christ 
attributes the same importance to the story of the 
queen of Sheba and to that of Jonas (Matthew 
12:40-42); and, consequently, sets the same his-
torical value on the Book of Jonas as on the Third 
Book of Kings. 

The historicity of the specific incident of Jonas 
and the fish is likewise guaranteed by the words of 
Christ. The Jews asked our Lord for a "sign" or 
miracle which would establish His divinity. Christ 
answered that no sign would be given them other 
than the "sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas 
was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, 
so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth 
three days and three nights. The men of Nineve 
shall rise in judgment with this generation, and 
shall condemn it, because they did penance at the 
preaching of Jonas and behold a greater than Jonas 
here" (Matthew 12:40, 41; 16:4; Luke 11:29-32). 
Here Christ is contrasting facts with facts, not myth 
with myth, or myth with fact. Christ surely did not 
mean to affirm that He is greater than a mere 
imaginary man. Christ's berating of the Jews for 
their lack of real penance would have little meaning 
if He contrasted it with a nonexistent penance of 
the Ninivites. The stay of Christ in the heart of 
the earth is a fact and not fancy; hence the stay of 
Jonas in the whale's belly is a fact and not fiction. 
In a word, the whole force of the contrasts in this 
passage is lost if we hold that the story of Jonas 
is not a fact-narrative. 



SPECIAL PERSONAGES AND EVENTS *61 

The term "fish" in 2:1, is a generic term, mean-
ing any sea monster or huge fish, and not necessarily 
a whale. The Greenland whale is said to have so 
small a mouth as to be unable to swallow a man. 
But this is not true of all kinds of whales. The 
throat of the spermaceti whale is sufficiently large 
to give passage to the body of a man. However, it 
is not necessary to believe that the animal men-
tioned in the history of Jonas was a whale. There 
are certain sharks in the Mediterranean which are 
capable of swallowing a man entire and rendering 
him up again entire. Then there is the rorqual, also 
common in the Mediterranean. This fish possesses 
a number of parallel longitudinal folds, which com-
mence under the lower lip, pass down the throat, 
and terminate far down in the abdomen. Jonas may 
have been miraculously embedded and detained 
within the spacious cavity in the folds of the 
rorqual mouth. Here the prophet would have been 
preserved intact more easily than in the powerful 
digestive organ of a whale. 

In a recent issue (1) the Minneapolis Journal 
brought an account of two modern cases which are 
analogous to that of Jonas: "Rev. John Ambrose 
Wilson of Queens College, Oxford, who set out to 
prove that the story of Jonah and the whale is true, 
found the two additional cases. The first actual ex-
ample in modern times was that of James Bartley, 
whose adventure has been carefully checked by 
French and British scientists. 

"Bartley was thrown into the water in Feb-
ruary, 1891, in the Falkland Islands, when a whale 
upset his boat. His shipmates captured the whale 

(1) April 11, 1928, p. 1. 



62" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

and were removing blubber the next day when they 
noticed convulsions in the stomach. Opening it, they 
found Bartley. He was restored to consciousness by 
dousing of salt water, but was a raving maniac. In-
side of three weeks, however, he regained his reason 
and resumed his duties, but his skin, blanched a 
deadly white by the gastric juices in the whale's 
belly never took any color. 

"Marshall Jenkins was another case. He was 
swallowed by a whale October 14, 1771, but was 
soon spewed up, considerably bruised, but not seri-
ously injured." 

"Mr. Wilson says a study of the structure of 
the sperm whale shows that it is perfectly possible 
for a man to be swallowed alive and that he could 
remain alive two or three days inside the whale." 

New reports concerning sea monsters have 
come recently from Northern Pacific Coast and from 
Scotland. A London newspaper made exhaustive in-
vestigations of reports from the Loch Ness district 
in Scotland and found fifty-one eyewitnesses. A 
naturalist who became expert in spoor reading in 
Africa found tracks of the brute at Loch Ness. It is 
suggested that submarine volcanic eruptions account 
for the occasional change of habitat of these sea 
monsters. 

Discussion Aids 
1. State the two explanations of the stopping 

of the sun. 

2. State the three possible explanations of the 
apparition of Samuel at the behest of the 

witch of Endor. 



SPECIAL PERSONAGES AND EVENTS *63 

3. Did Elias and Henoch die? 
4. Are they still living? 
5. Does the Bible or Tradition tell us where 

they are now? 
6. When will they reappear? 
7. Will they die? 
8. Give briefly the contents of the Book of 

Jonas. 
9. Is the second chapter of the Book true his-

tory? Explain. 
10. How do the words of Christ guarantee the 

history of the incident of Jonas? 
11. What is the meaning of the word "fish" in 

II, 1? 
12. Describe the modern cases analogous to that 

of Jonas. 

Religious Practices 

1. I will frequently recall that I and my actions 
are as wholly subject to God as are the sun, 
moon, stars, clouds, etc. 

2. I will not indulge in a vain and idle specu-
lation about the lot of the dead but by a 
virtuous life on earth prepare to be num-
bered among the saints. 

3. In celebrating the feast of the Transfigu-
ration I will try to reproduce in my soul the 
sentiments with which Elias was present at 
the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor. 

4. I will so live that the sojourn of my body in 
the grave after death will be only a prelude 
to a glorious bodily immortality. 



Chapter V I I 

Job and the Problem of Evil 
The Book of Job is a symposium on the age-

long and ever recurring problem of suffering. The 
Book has been justly called the "Lamentation of 
Afflicted Mankind." It is divided into three parts: 
the introduction, the discussions or debates, and the 
conclusion. 

In the prologue (1 to 3) we are told how God 
permits Satan to tempt Job, a simple, upright, and 
God-fearing man. In rapid succession Job loses his 
children and is stripped of all his possessions. Yet 
he bears all these trials patiently and his trust in 
God continues unbroken: "The Lord gave, and the 
Lord hath taken away, as it hath pleased the Lord, 
so is it done; blessed be the name of the Lord" 
(1:21). Job is then struck with a loathsome disease 
from the top of his head to the sole of his feet. His 
own wife rises against him and scorns him. But 
even then his patience is invincible and his confi-
dence in God continues unwavering. 

Three of Job's friends—the venerable Eliphaz, 
the conventional Baldad, and the opinionated Sophar 
—come to visit and console him. After seven days 
of silence, they open a seven days' discussion to de-
termine the cause of Job's afflictions. 

I First Cycle of Debates (4 to 14): Sufferings 
are a punishment of sin. 

Eliphaz (4 to 5) : God never punishes the inno-
cent; let Job, therefore, acknowledge his sins: "Who 



JOB AND THE PROBLEM OP EVIL 65 

ever perished being innocent? Or when were the 
just destroyed" (4:7) ? 

Job (6 to 7): I am innocent; besides there is 
no proportion between my sufferings and the imagi-
nary sins imputed to me: "0 that my sins, whereby 
I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I 
suffer, were weighed in a balance. As the sand of 
the sea this would appear heavier" (6:2-3). 

Baldad (8): Divine justice is immutable and 
must of necessity punish sin; let Job, therefore, re-
turn to God: "Doth God pervert judgment, or doth 
the Almighty overthrow that which is just" (8:3)? 

Job (9 to 10): I know that God is just and that 
no one is pure in His sight: "Man cannot be justified 
compared with God. If he will contend with him, he 
cannot answer him one for a thousand" (9:2-3). 
But God also frequently afflicts the innocent. If I 
am guilty, let Him show me my sins. 

Sophar (11): God is omniscient and omni-
present; if Job suffers, let him understand that "God 
exacts much less of him than his iniquity deserves" 
(11:6). 

Job (12 to 14): My knowledge of God is not 
inferior to that of my friends. If God is punishing 
me, it must be for the sins of my youth. 

II Second Cycle of Debates (15 to 21): Job has 
sinned. 

Eliphaz (15): Job is a proud and wicked per-
son, and his speech abounds in blasphemy. 

Job (16 to 17): God is the witness of my inno-
cence : "For behold my witness is in heaven, and he 
that knoweth my conscience is on high" (16:20). 

Baldad (18): Job is guilty and is deserving of 
the sad lot of an unjust and impious man. 



66" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

Job (19): May my friends have mercy on me 
in my excessive misery; as for me, I place my trust 
in God and in the future resurrection of the body. 

Sophar (20): The prosperity of the wicked is 
short lived and their downfall sudden: "The praise 
of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite 
but for a moment. If his pride mount up even to 
heaven, and his head touch the clouds, in the end he 
shall be destroyed like a dunghill" (20:5-7). 

Job (21): On the contrary, the wicked often 
prosper during their entire lifetime: "Why then do 
the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened 
with riches? Their aeed continueth before them, a 
multitude of kinsmen, and of children's children in 
their sight. Their houses are secure and peaceable, 
and the rod of God is not upon them" (21:7-9). 
I l l Third Cycle of Debates (22 to 28): Job is 
clearly guilty. 

Eliphaz (22): Job's sufferings are due to his 
"manifold wickedness" and "infinite iniquities"; let 
him repent and God will grant him prosperity. 

Job (23-24): Let me be tried at God's trib-
unal; I repeat, the wicked, too, frequently prosper 
in this life. 

Baldad (25): No man is pure in the sight of 
God: "Can man be justified compared with God, or 
he that is born of a woman appear clean" (25:4) ? 

Job (26): I too, realize that great indeed are 
the wisdom and power of God. True wisdom is to be 
found not in material things but in God alone. 
Though presently overwhelmed with calamities I 
am innocent (27 to 31). 



JOB AND THE PROBLEM OP EVIL 67 

In the second part (32 to 37) Eliu, a zealous 
onlooker, declares that suffering is God's method of 
purifing, developing and strengthening virtue. 

The debate closes with a theophany (38 to 
40:4). In response to Job's appeal to judge his case, 
God answers him out of the whirlwind, and cen-
sures him for the rashness of his language. The 
range of God's wisdom and power are revealed in 
the unfathomed mysteries of the universe. The 
mystery of suffering is not smaller than these. 
Finite man then cannot hope to fathom the mys-
teries of God's ways. 

In the epilogue (Job 42:7-16) God reprimands 
the three friends of Job. The latter justified by God 
Himself, unhesitatingly submits to the divine de-
crees. He has stood the test successfully, and God 
gives him thrice as much as he had possessed be-
fore. Job lives after these things one hundred and 
forty years, and sees his children and his children's 
children unto the fourth generation. 

The various solutions of the problem of evil, 
stated explicitly or insinuated in the Book of Job, 
are deserving of further attention. The problem 
itself has been accentuated by the events of contem-
porary times and has colored profoundly the trends 
of modern thought. For the sake of clarity we shall 
study first moral evil, and then consider physical 
suffering as found in the human and animal king-
dom. 

Moral Evil 
The problem of moral evil or sin cannot be 

solved by viewing sin as a mere evolutionary mis-
take or as a failure to respond to the "law of prog-
ressive life" and "highest spiritual environment." 



\ 
68" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

Nor is it sufficiently explained by saying that sin 
arises necessarily out of man's free will. Free will 
does not of itself imply the power to choose wrong. 
God could have so ordered our circumstances and 
conferred on the will such instinctive tendencies 
that we should in every instance adopt the right 
course. 

The affirmation that God is not bound to inter-
fere miraculously with the normal course of events 
and hinder the birth of evil men is, perhaps, a more 
plausible solution. 

The ultimate explanation, however, is to be 
sought in the fact that, in the present order of Provi-
dence, man's life is a probation. Final beatitude is 
to be a reward of personal effort, a fruit of our 
labors, a recompense of a hard-won victory. Such a 
lot inevitably implies the power to choose wrong. A 
probation and a struggle without the possibility of 
failure would be a meaningless farce. 

To say that God should abstain from giving 
existence to a soul which He foresaw would choose 
the path of evil, would be to affirm that human 
malice can prevail against the sovereignty, goodness, 
and wisdom of the Creator. 

God wishes all men to be saved and come to a 
knowledge of the Truth. He deals patiently, not 
willing that anyone should perish but that all should 
return to penance. Having destined us to a super-
natural end, He also gives us the means of attaining 
that end. Christ is universal Mediator, Saviour, and 
Redeemer; His graces are intended for all without 
distinction. God does not arbitrarily predestine 
some to damnation and others to glory. To each He 
gives sufficient aid to reach his supernatural des-



JOB AND THE PROBLEM OP EVIL 69 

tiny. If man does all that lies within his power, God 
out of His abundant mercy will continue to bestow 
His help until man has reached the haven of eternal 
safety. If man disregards or abuses God's graces, 
the result—eternal separation from God—is to be 
attributed not to God but to man's perverse will. 

God can never be the cause of sin, because every 
sinful act is a departure from that divinely estab-
lished order whereby all creatures tend to God as to 
their last end. While God is the cause of the being 
and energy of every action, He is never the cause 
of any deformity in the action; such deformity is 
attributable to the human will alone. If God de-
livers some to a reprobate sense, it is only because 
they already have such a disposition. He merely 
does not hinder them from following their sinful 
ways, even, as we are said to expose a person to 
danger if we do not protect him. Nor is God the 
cause of spiritual blindness and hardness of heart, 
if by these is meant a positive aversion from Divine 
Light and cleaving to evil. God, however, of His 
own accord may withdraw His illuminating and in-
spiring grace from those who are not worthy and 
who resist Him; without this grace there arise in 
the souls of such individuals a blindness of the 
mind and hardening of the heart. 

Whenever God permits moral evil, He renders it 
subservient to His own good purposes. Thus the 
iniquity of pagan emperors called forth the heroic 
virtues of the martyrs. A man who sins, who acts 
in defiance of his reason, places himself on the plane 
of irrational creatures. As long as he remains in 
this perverse state, God treats him as one of them: 
he ceases to be an end but becomes a means to the 



70" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

good of others. The sinful will of the wicked affords 
the necessary occasion for the exercise of the highest 
virtue. Struggle against the evil examples and 
seductions of the world is not only a proof of virtue 
but also a means of its growth and development. 
The attainment of virtue on the part of the good out-
weighs the harm of moral evil. 

Physical Evil 
The presence of physical evil in the human race 

is frequently alleged by contemporary writers as an 
argument against the existence of a good and omni-
potent God. If God is Supreme Goodness, they con-
tend, why does He allow these evils to arise? If He 
is omnipotent why does He not remove them or de-
liver us from them? For those who have lost sight 
of all spiritual standards, whose only aim in life is 
material well-being, comfort, and prosperity, the 
presence of bodily suffering is naturally an insoluble 
enigma. For the humanist, pragmatist, and hedonist 
the existence of suffering must necessarily admit of 
no explanation or justification. 

In offering a solution of this vexing problem, 
let us recall to mind certain fundamental facts and 
principles. In the first place, many physical evils 
are not of God's appointing but of man's approving. 
A large proportion of the tragedies in life are due 
directly or indirectly to human beings themselves, 
to their stupidity and perversity. There is no need 
of blaming God for their origin or assuming the 
burden of reconciling them with God's purposes. 
Again, many of the disasters which overcome man 
are due to the changes which he himself has intro-
duced into the realm of nature. The vast mechan-
isms of nature are thrown out of gear and forced to 



JOB AND THE PROBLEM OP EVIL 71 

operate in abnormal ways, the pent-up energies are 
carelessly or unskillfully handled, and dire suffer-
ings follow. 

Secondly, we must keep in mind the fundamen-
tal truth that we have not here a "lasting city," but 
seek one which is to come. Man's true end is not 
earthly pleasure but the possession of God, the Su-
preme Good. Physical evil is one of the most im-
portant factors in enabling man to attain this end. 
Were it not for trials and tribulations men would 
scarcely ever think of the future life and of their 
true end. 

Thus, far from being irreconcilable with the 
wisdom of the Creator, pain fulfills an important 
office in human life. In the light of this truth we 
can understand, to some extent at least, the pur-
poses of those natural calamities which from time 
to time overcome some section of the human race. 
The overwhelming power of these forces of nature, 
and man's utter helplessness before them, rouse 
man from his habitual religious indifference, fill him 
with reverence for the Creator and with fear of vio-
lating His moral laws. In many instances, it is true, 
human existence is cut off prematurely and its pur-
pose apparently frustrated. But when life is con-
sidered as a probation, it matters little whether man 
lives his full years or not. An early death, instead 
of being a loss, is in God's Providence frequently an 
immense gain. 

The Sufferings of Animals 
In speaking of animal sufferings it is well to 

abstain from all vain and silly sentimentality. 
Animal and human sufferings cannot be considered 
as being on the same plane or level. Animal suffer-



72" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

ings may resemble human sufferings by reason of 
their physiological processes but differ essentially 
from them as to their psychological reality. Whereas 
the animal is endowed merely with sensitive appre-
hension and memory, man possesses an immaterial 
intellect which transcends the limitations of time 
and space and gathers up the past and future into 
the present. Because of past recollections and future 
anticipations, man suffers collectively, as it were, 
and with corresponding intensity. 

Pain, where it does exist, is a natural con-
sequent of the animal's nature and bodily organs. 
Immunity from pain would demand a perpetual 
miracle. It would be contrary to God's wisdom to 
create a sentient nature and forthwith reverse the 
system of natural laws which govern it. 

A wise government provides for everything 
according to the mode of its nature. It would be 
contrary to the divine plan not to allow creatures 
to act according to the mode of their several natures. 
But by the very fact of creatures so acting, there 
arises evil in the world, since mutual contrariety 
and inconsistency result in mutual destruction. If 
God created certain creatures, for example, car-
nivorous or insectivorous, His wisdom demands that 
provision be made for them in accordance with and 
not in opposition to their respective natures. 

Discussion Aids 
1. Give briefly the contents of the three divis-

ions of the book of Job: 
a) prologue 
b) dialogue 
c) epilogue 



JOB AND THE PROBLEM OP EVIL 73 

2. On what vexing problem does the book 
touch? How does it solve it? 

3. Is sin an evolutionary mistake? 
4. Does sin arise necessarily out of our free 

will? 
5. Give the reasons for the existence of sin in 

the world. 
6. Does God arbitrarily predestine any one to 

damnation? 
7. Is God the cause of sin? Does He harden any 

one's heart? 
8. Why does God permit evil? 
9. For whom especially is physical evil a vexing 

problem? 
10. Enumerate all the possible reasons why suf-

fering exists in the world. 
11. Is animal suffering on the same plane as 

human suffering? Why? 
12. Explain why animal suffering exists in the 

world. 

Religious Practices 
1. I will accept sufferings as an expiation of 

my sins and as an occasion of merit. 
2. I will accept all sufferings as a reminder that 

we have not here a "lasting city" but seek 
one which is to come. 

3. I will frequently recall that the purpose of 
my existence is not earthly pleasure but the 
possession of God, the Supreme Good. 



Chapter V I I I 

Old Testament Morality and 
Religion 

Why does the Bible—especially the Old Testa-
ment, the inspired word of God—contain accounts 
of crimes, sins, vices, and immoralities—narratives 
which, to say the least, are very disedifying? 

The Old Testament was written for people who 
had just emerged from slavery and from close con-
tact with the gross immorality of Egyptian pagan-
ism. Its pages contain many statements which we 
consider as extremely blunt and shocking but which 
the Hebrews, who were not accustomed to the count-
less conventions of the modern world, regarded as 
acceptable modes of expression. Of course, we must 
not suppose that the whole Old Testament was read 
aloud to young boys and girls. As a recent author 
so well puts it, "an indiscriminate reading of it is 
by no means commendable for the young and imma-
ture and the abnormally weak. Moses and the 
prophets did not write for such; no more than the 
authors of detailed treatises on anatomy or the mar-
riage law intended their works for school libraries." 

Secondly, the Old Testament describes the 
ravages of original sin within the human race. 
Every sin, vice, and crime depicted on its pages, is 
a concrete manifestation of that law which Adam 
introduced into humanity by his fall and which is 
recorded in the opening chapters of the Bible. 



OLD TESTAMENT MORALITY AND RELIGION 75 

Finally, the Old Testament pens humanity's 
yearnings for a Redeemer; if the Jews and pat-
riarchs were represented as morally perfect, if the 
sacred authors had published only expurgated 
accounts, much of the Old as well as of the New 
Testament would be unintelligible, and the coming 
of a Saviour to free humanity from sin would have 
been meaningless. 

The actions of the Jews, it is true, were fre-
quently evil and immoral. But the ethical principles 
of the Old Testament were always praiseworthy, 
and ranked much higher than those of the pagans. 
The Old Testament code is absolutely good; it 
teaches nothing immoral or contrary to the natural 
moral law. The ten commandments alone are suffi-
cient evidence of this fact. Nowhere in Sacred 
Scripture does God command or approve evil. That 
the Old Testament code is not as perfect as that of 
the New is easily explained. God, who in His in-
finite knowledge knows that human nature prog-
resses very slowly in the paths of virtue, adapts His 
precepts to men as He finds them and gradually 
leads them to higher degrees of perfection. 

The commandment of neighborly love holds a 
prominent place in the Old Testament. Certain 
laws concerning the love of enemies suggest the 
spirit of the "Our Father"; "He that seeketh to re-
venge himself shall find vengeance from the Lord; 
and He will surely keep his sins in remembrance. 
Forgive thy neighbor if he hath hurt thee; and then 
shall thy sins be forgiven to thee when thou prayest" 
(Ecclesiasticus 28:1,2). The oppressed rarely fail-
ed to find a defender. The prophet Elias severely 
rebukes King Achab for having taken away the vine-



76" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

yard from Nabot. Nathan reprimands king David 
for murdering Urias in order to marry his wife. 

The punishments prescribed in the Old Testa-
ment are much more humane than those inflicted 
by Babylonia and Assyria. The maxim, "eye for an 
eye," was the code of primitive society and only 
meant that the punishment was to be equal to the 
crime. Blood-revenge—the personal retaliation for 
the murder of relatives—was based on much the 
same principle. Blood-revenge was an ancient deep-
rooted custom and, before the organized administra-
tion of justice, a method of punishment well cal-
culated to deter men from crime. In territories 
without governing powers, the institution of blood-
revenge—though at times open to abuse—was of 
considerable benefit, for if a man had no one to take 
revenge for him, he would be in constant danger of 
losing his life by violence. Now, the Old Testament 
gives a record of this ancient custom; but it sur-
rounds it with safeguards and strives to eliminate 
its abuses. 

But what about the so-called vindictive psalms 
in which the sacred writer hurls the curse of God 
against his enemies (Psalms 34; 51; 53; 57; 58; 67; 
108; 136)? Recently in the Anglican Church the 
Houses of Convocation of Canterbury recommended 
that in the use of the Psalter in public worship 
Psalm 57 and portions of other maledictory psalms 
be omitted. In dealing with these imprecatory 
psalms we must judge them—not in the light of the 
higher and New Testament morality—but in the 
light of their own times. The Jews had, on the one 
hand, a profound sense of God's justice and holiness. 
n n the other hand, they did not as yet have the full 



OLD TESTAMENT MORALITY AND RELIGION 77 

light of revelation on the future life with its rewards 
and punishments. They did not fully understand 
that, if a moral adjustment is not made in this life, 
it will surely be made in the next. And hence the 
psalmist sought the sanctions of morality in the 
blessings and punishments of this life. At any rate, 
it would be wrong to regard the vindictive psalms 
as the expression of personal hatred and revenge 
for the psalmist's enemies. They are denunciations 
of sin rather than of sinners, prayers that God's 
holiness and justice be vindicated and sanction for 
morality established. 

The slaying of certain peoples in Canaan 
(Josue 11) by the sword of the Israelites at God's 
command cannot be alleged as an argument against 
God's goodness. The destruction of these "nations" 
(small fortified towns) is always represented in 
Sacred Scripture as a just judgment of God sent 
upon them because of their heinous wickedness. 
These nations—such as the Canaanites, for example 
—had not only fallen into total apostacy from God 
but into forms of idolatry of the most degrading 
kind. The most atrocious cruelty and the most de-
filing unnatural vices were part and parcel of their 
observances (Leviticus 18:21 if.; Deuteronomy 
12:3 ff.). In spite of many warnings from God, they 
had proved themselves incorrigible. It would be im-
possible to acknowledge God as the moral governor 
of the universe, if on occasions, at least, He did not 
summarily remove from His dominions these masses 
of hopeless depravity. God, the Lord of life, in-
flicted this righteous judgment by the hand of the 
Israelites and commissioned them to be His execu-
tioners. Did not God execute a similar judgment 



78" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 
Himself directly, when He caused fire and sulphur 
to drop down upon the inhabitants of Sodom and 
Gomorrha, or when He caused the immoral city of 
Pompei to be buried by the volcanic eruptions of 
Mount Vesuvius? If innocent men and children were 
slaughtered together with the Canaanites, God re-
dressed in the hereafter these inequalities which 
arose out of the acts of His Providence here below. 
Finally, we must not forget the many texts which 
enjoin kindness toward the foreigners who agree 
to dwell peaceably in the midst of Israel. 

The destruction of the Canaanites was neces-
sary in the interests of mankind at large. On 
account of their degeneracy they were extremely 
dangerous to the one true religion of Israel. Their 
godlessness was a menace to the preservation of the 
true faith and the true worship. Had Josue been 
more lenient, the heathen would have remained in 
large numbers in the midst of God's people. There 
would have been intermarriage and a gradual melt-
ing down of the whole into one nation. 

When one considers the strong tendency which 
the Jews manifested all through their history to 
imitate their pagan neighbors, it is clear that the 
pure and lofty idea of God, which is the very heart 
and soul of revealed religion, would have been lost, 
and worship would have become as debased as was 
that of the Phoenicians and Moabites. 

Nor does slavery stand out as a disgraceful 
blot on the pages of the Old Testament. In all things 
not directly connected with divine worship, the 
Israelites lived according to customs of the times. 
Slavery was then incorporated into the structure of 
society and a sudden freeing of the slaves would 



OLD TESTAMENT MORALITY AND RELIGION 79 

have meant a general cessation of work. Further-
more, the Jewish law was far more considerate of 
the slaves than were the laws of pagan nations. 
Slaves in pagan countries were mere chattels, en-
joying no rights, and liable to death at the mere 
caprice of the master. The slaves of the Jews, on 
the contrary, enjoyed many rights. A slave who 
lost an eye or a tooth by the brutality of his master, 
thereby became free. The murder of a slave was 
punished by death. The master was bound to pro-
vide for the marriage of his female slaves. The 
children begotten in slavery belonged to the master 
who had to care for them. When a Jew in need sold 
himself into bondage, he was emancipated during 
the next Jubilee Year. Even during the bondage he 
was to be treated rather as a hired hand than as a 
slave (Leviticus 25:39). All the slaves of the Jews 
were allowed to participate in the sacrificial repasts 
and in the paschal supper (Exodus 12:44). The 
New Testament—especially that Magna Charta of 
emancipation, the Epistle to Philemon—laid down 
the principles for the abolition of slavery. However, 
it took centuries before liberation -was fully 
attained: the elimination of a factor, which is an 
important part of the social texture, must of neces-
sity be slow; secondly, to throw the slaves at once 
on their own responsibility, might have placed them 
in a condition which would have been worse than 
slavery. 

There is no evidence to show that human sac-
rifices formed part of the official worship of Jahve. 
The few instances that are mentioned in the Old 
Testament are related as something most excep-
tional. Abraham did not actually sacrifice his son; 



80" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

the sacred writer describes the heroic trial of Abra-
ham's faith as something unique. When God stopped 
the hand of Abraham, He indicated to that patriarch 
and to all posterity that He desired not the life of 
man but prompt obedience of mind and heart. If 
Jephte really sacrificed his daughter (Judges 11:29-
40) the Bible does not commend him for it; the 
sacred writer makes no comment on the action of 
Jephte but draws a veil over the tragedy, thereby 
giving us to understand that Judaism did not sanc-
tion Jephte's conduct; at any rate, the action of 
that crude chieftain cannot be taken as proof that 
the religion of Israel sanctioned human sacrifices. 
Micheas (Micheas 6:6, 7) asks what God demands 
of man? He enumerates in the form of a climax the 
costly gifts which man might offer to God; he men-
tions human sacrifices but only to reject the suppo-
sition. 

The Old Testament permitted polygamy and 
divorce. But, as our Lord Himself explained, "from 
the beginning it was not so"; these things were per-
mitted to the early Jews "because of the hardness of 
their hearts" (Matthew 19:8). In the beginning 
unity and indissolubility of marriage were the rule. 
But in the measure in which polygamy and divorce 
prevailed among the neighboring pagan tribes, the 
Patriarchs and their descendants also fell into these 
abuses. God, however, merely tolerated this state 
of affairs; He never commanded or commended it. 
When Christ came, He restored marriage to its 
original status and raised it to the dignity of a sac-
rament. 

Infidels contend that the Jewish religion was 
polytheistic both by origin and in theory. They 



OLD TESTAMENT MORALITY AND RELIGION 81 

base their claim on the following three arguments: 
(1) The Hebrew term for God, namely, "Elohim," 
is a plural noun; (2) the term had a polytheistic 
home; (3) the sacred writers make frequent refer-
ence to "other gods." But the arguments do not and 
cannot warrant the conclusions drawn from them. 
(1) The term, "Elohim," it is true is plural in form. 
But in the Old Testament it is treated as a singular 
noun, taking a singular verb, pronoun, or attribute. 
It is a plural of majesty or power. (2) Even though 
the word had a polytheistic home, it does not follow 
that Israel retained all the original connotation of 
the term. Christianity borrowed many pagan words 
(Deus, pontifix) but put its own meaning into them. 
(3) In regard to the expression, "other gods," why 
expect that every Jew of antiquity be a trained 
theologian and speak as such? The Jew was not a 
theoretical thinker. The Semitic mind was pre-emi-
nently practical. And so it is well possible that the 
early Jews did not always think out the logical con-
sequences of their monotheism. It sufficed for the 
ordinary Jew to know that Jahve was his Lord and 
Master, the God whom he must worship. 

Hebrew monotheism brought with it a truly 
spiritual worship, the only worship in antiquity 
worthy of the name. It always regarded idolatry as 
an abomination and a sin. Polytheism, female 
deities, mythology, animal worship, human sacri-
fices, ritualistic prostitution never formed a part 
of the Jewish religion. It had none of those bar-
barous and immoral practices which disfigured even 
the highest religions of antiquity. Paganism, on the 
other hand, did not clearly grasp the relation be-
tween religion and ethics. It countenanced the most 



84" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

hideous vices. Its gods and goddesses were generally 
regarded as indifferent to sin, and were themselves 
charged with the grossest violations of the moral 
code. The ethical code of the Old Testament, while 
lower than the teaching of the Gospel, stands out m 
antiquity as a lofty spiritual rule of life. It empha-
sizes the relation between religion and ethics, and 
bases man's obligation on the thought of God's holi-
ness and love. The religion of Israel does not suffer 
by comparison with the best and the highest relig-
ions of antiquity. Such a comparison only serves to 
bring out into clearer light the transcendence of that 
religion and the utter impossibility of accounting 
for it on purely natural grounds. 

Discussion Aids 
1. How explain the presence in the Old Testa-

ment of narratives of crimes, sins, vices, and 
immoralities? Give three explanations. 

2. Did the Jews have a high ethical code? 
Prove your statement. 

3. Was the Old Testament code as perfect as 
that of the New Testament? Why? 

4. What commandment holds a prominent place 
in the Old Testament? 

5. What was the meaning of the Old Testament 
maxim, "eye for an eye"? 

6. Why did the Old Testament tolerate the 
custom of blood revenge? 

7. How explain the vindictive or maledictory 
psalms? 

8. Is the slaying of certain peoples in Canaan 
an argument against God's goodness? Give 
three reasons. 



OLD TESTAMENT MORALITY AND RELIGION 83 

9. Did the Old Testament permit slavery? 
10. Did human sacrifice form a part of Old Tes-

tament worship? 
11. Did the Old Testament permit polygamy and 

divorce? Why? 
12. Was the Jewish religion polytheistic? 

Religious Practices 
1. I will frequently thank God for His graces 

which enable me to avoid the sins and 
crimes committed by men of pre-Christian 
times. 

2. I shall follow the more perfect teaching of 
the New Testament concerning the love of 
neighbor: "You have heard that it hath been 
said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate 
thy enemy. But I say to you, Love your ene-
mies; do good to them that hate you; and 
pray for them that persecute and calumniate 
you; that you may be the children of your 
Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:43-
45). 

3. I shall frequently recall my responsibility 
before God for the many graces which He 
gives me daily. 



Publications of the St. Paul 
Confraternity 

ARCHDIOCESE OF SAINT PAUL 
251 Summit Ave. 

Saint Paul 2, Minnesota 
Teacher's and pupil's booklets for the weekday 

class of religious instruction, for Saturday and Sun-
day religion classes, and for the summer vacation 
school classes. 

Syllabus of Religious Instruction and Education 
—Archdiocese of St. Paul. 
A Manual for Teachers who instruct Catholic pupils attend-
ing public schools; explains the catechetical methods used in 
the booklets published by the Confraternity of Christian 
Doctrine in the Archdiocese of St Paul. The Syllabus in-
cludes a complete teacher's manual for the KINDbKtrAK L-
EN PRIMARY, and intermediate grades, and a brief out-
line of the courses for the junior and senior high school 
s tudents .^ I ? L 2 5 e a c h 

Intermediate Grades (Grades 4, 5 and 6) 
1. The Apostles Creed and the Life of Christ 
(87 pages) 

Price 1-99 copies ....i $0.31 each 
Lots of 100 or more 28 each 

The Teacher's Copy, including answers to tests 
and problems $0.45 each 

2. The Sacraments and the Mass (72 pages) 
p r j c e Same as above 

The Teacher's Copy Same as above 
3. The Commandments of God and the Precepts 

of the Church (92 pages) p r i c e Same as above 
The Teacher's Copy Same as above 



CONFRATERNITY PUBLICATIONS 8 6 

Junior High School (Grades 7, 8 and 9) 
1. The Saints Through th-e Ages (141 pages) 

A. course on the virtues through the examples of the Saints, 
with the Creed as a foundation. It aims to develop habits 
of selfmastery so necessary in the period of puberty and 
adolescence. 

Price | $0.50 each 
Lots of 25-99 45 each 
Lots of 100 or more 40 each 

The Teacher's Copy, including answers to tests 
and problems . $0.60 each 

2. In Christ Through the Parish (137 pages) 
The Mass, Sacraments, and devotions constitute the basis of 
this course which aims to develop in the child a love for his 
parish church and for parish life. The booklet strives to 
acquaint the child with everything that in any way touches 
upon his life in the parish (the church building, altar, sacred 
vessels, vestments, liturgical functions, devotions, etc.) 

Price Same as above 
The Teacher's Copy Same as above 

3. Vital Problems (122 pages) 
This course tries to prepare the child for the many problems 
and temptations which he will meet after he finishes the 
grade school (movies, magazines, the gang, drinking, smok-
ing, honesty, truthfulness, etc.). The lessons are correlated 
with the Commandments. 

Price Same as above 
The Teacher's Copy Same as above 

Senior High School (Grades 10, U and 12) 
1. The Creed (145 pages) 

Price $0.50 each 
Lots of 50-99 45 each 
Lots of 100 or more 40 each 

Teacher's manual (answers only) 30 each 
2. The Sacraments, the Mass and the Liturgical 

Year (176 pages) 
Price Same as above 

Teacher's manual (answers only) 25 each 



86" BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 

3. The Commandments (138 pages) 
Price Same as above 

Teacher's manual (answers only) .... .30 each 

OTHER PUBL ICAT IONS A V A I L A B L E 
Young People Above High School Age 

1. Modern Questions by Rev. R. G. Bandas (6 
booklets of eight chapters each) Our Sunday 
Visitor Press, Huntington, Indiana 
p r i c e $0.15 each 

Set of No's. 1 through 6 60 set 

2. Biblical Questions by Rev. R. B. Bandas (8 
booklets) (Old and New Testament) 

Price 20 each 

For Teachers of Religion 
1. Religion Teaching and Practice (232 pages) 

by Rev. R. G. Bandas. A Teacher's Manual on 
Catechetical Methods. J. F. Wagner, Inc., 53 
Park Place, New York City. 
Price | $1.50 each 

NOTE: The Confraternity Manuals were prepared 
by Committees of Priests, Brothers, Sisters, and 
Laymen of the St. Paul Archdiocese. 

IMPORTANT: Send orders to St. Paul Con-
fraternity, 251 Summit Ave., St. Paul 2, Minn. In 
ordering, please specify under which heading are the 
books you wish: intermediate grades, junior, or 
senior high school. Checks payable to St. Paul Con-
fraternity. 

Shipping charges added. 







(Continued f rom Inside f ron t cover) 
the materials in the Series a re taken from our work. Biblical Questions— 
Old Testament, a book which is now out of print . 

We wish also to express our gratitude to St. Anthony's Guild of 
Paterson, New Jersey, fo r permission to use its Scriptural publication! 
in the preparation of the booklet. The Biblical texts are from the 
Rheiras-Douay Version published by the E. M. Lohmann Company of 
St. Paul. In enunciating the Church's traditional and unchanging 
dogmatic teachings bearing upon the questions under discussion, we 
have used as sourcebooks J . M. Herve's Manuale Theologiae Dog-
maticae (Paris, 1924) Vol. II, A. Tanquerey's, Synopsis Theologiae 
Dogmaticae (Tournai, 1921) Vol. I I , and our own work. The Master 
Idea of St . Paul ' s Epistles or the Bedemption (Bruges. 1925). 

The Author 

A Manual for High School and College Students and for 
Young People's and Adult Discussion Clubs. 

MODERN QUESTIONS 
by Rev. Rudolph G. Bandas 

SERIES I 

1. Religious Indifference and Unbe-
lief. 

2. Materialism 
8. Evolution 
4. Religious Broadmindedness 
6. The Index of Forbidden Books 
8. Secret and Forbidden Societies 
1. The Two " V a " — Organization 

and Aim 
8. The Two " Y V — A n Appreciation 

SERIES I I 

1. The Inqoisiton 
t . The Orthodox Churches 
t . The Anglican Church 
4. Christian Science 
5. The Witnesses of Jehovah 
8. The Oxford Group Movement 
7. The Salvation of Non-Catholies 
8. Scandals and a Holy Church 

SERIES i n . 
1. The Encyclicals 
2. Social Justice 
8. Racism—Exposition 
4. Racism—Criticism 
5. Totalitarianism—Exposition 
8. Totalitarianism—Criticism 
T. Communism 
8. Communism—Causes and Rant-

•dies 

SERIES IV 

1. Euthanasia or Mercy Killing 
2. Cremation 
3. Private Property 
4. A Living Wage 
fi. Labor Unions 
6. The Morality of Strikes 
7. The Social Apostolata 
8. Our Civic Duties 

SERIES V 

1. Spiritism 
2. Fortelling the Future 
8. The Liquor Traffic and Drunken-

ness 
4. Salacious Literature 
B. The Movies 
6. Dancing 
7. Gambling 
8. Activities of Catholic Youth Or-

ganizations 

SERIES VI 
1. Vocation to the Priesthood 
2. Vocation to Catholic Actio* 
8. Vocation to the Sisterhood 
4. Vocation to the Married Life 
( . Marriage, a Contract and • 

Sacrament 
8. Mixed Marriages 
7. The Family 
8. The Education of Children 

15c per copy of each Series; discount on quantity orders. 
Order from Our Sunday Visitar, Huntington, Indiana.