CHAPTER II

Mr. Olmsted's assertion concerning the requisitions of the advocate of Revelation in examining the credibility of the Mosaic writings. Its falsehood. His allegation that the first sentence in the Bible contains a falsehood. The confutation of his argument. His objection to the credibility of the Mosaic narrative of the creation founded on the statement that the world was made in six days. Vindication of the Mosaic narrative.--Infidel objection to the Mosaic narrative founded on the zodiacs in the temples of Latapolis and Tantyra. Its fallacy.--Dr. Keith's proofs of the truthfulness of the Mosaic narrative of the creation 48

SECTION I.--Mosaic account of the creation confirmed by tradition. The Hindoo account; that of Ovid; the Phenician; the Egyptian; that of Plato.--The heathen tradition concerning the first man. Division of time into weeks, a confirmation of the Mosaic narrative 75

SECTION II.--Paine's and Olmsted's objection on account of the narrative of the fall of man. Their confutation. The Mosaic narrative of the fall of man confirmed by heathen traditions; by the universality of serpent worship; by the condition of mankind; by the opinions of the heathen philosophers concerning the corruption of human nature; by the belief of the Brahmins; by the opinions of the classical mythologists, and by the universal practice of animal sacrifice.--The account of the translation of Enoch confirmed by the Grecian fables.--The longevity of the antediluvian patriarchs confirmed by heathen traditions.--Mosaic account of man of gigantic stature confirmed by the Greek and Latin poets 85