A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion

niverse; for, after destroying every thing that had life, by the flood, Jehovah, somewhat like a conquering hero, returns to heaven. The war with the human race being over, Divine veng

y Jehovah, for men to unite in building a tower so lofty that the top would reach the heavens, we know not. However ignorant the then inhabitants of the earth were, the Lord knew that they could not annoy him by the erection of a tower to any height they might be inclined to r

ly, seems to be like that of an unfeeling father, who cares not for his children, and who is also equally indifferent as to whether the human race worshipped him, or fell down to worship stocks or stones; for, instead of ordering them to build an altar to the true and living God, he ordered them off, to wander abroad on the earth, and do the best they could. And here an opportunity was lost of insuring their conversion; since, as they were all of one language and speech, how easy to convert the whole race at once! Now, here we may discover a man-made God. Sometimes he is all je

of Abram and his seed forever, from that very moment the family affairs of Abram, Isaac and Jacob, seem to engross the attention of Jehovah; and, while I am writing, I blush for shame at the credulity of mankind in professing to believe such contemptible trash. What can be more weak and ridiculous than to suppose that the Lord and two angels

builded." And again-"Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language." And also, in the case of Sodom, the Lord told Abram concerning the cry of the wickedness of the inhabitants of Sodom. The Lord said to Abram-"I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; if not, I will know."-[Genesis xviii. 21.] Abram, having heard of the intended destruction of the Sodomites, remonstrates with Jehovah on the injustice of destroying the innocent with the

who was surrounded by his flocks and herds, dwelling in a tent, perhaps inferior to our Indian log-houses; that he, the Judge of all the earth, with two of his angels, were (according to eastern hospitality) presented with water to drink, and also, water t

the form of a man, with two of the angelic host; and that they then and there had their feet washed, and sat down to a dinner of veal and griddle cakes, and did eat thereof, and drink water. Now, if Moses, or any other pretended inspired writer, wrote this, I ask, is not the God of Ab

In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. This promise included the mission of Jesus, who was to save his people from their sins, and also to heal the nations, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. Chr

and also that they dined together; and, as if to remove all doubt of its truth, it mentions what they dined on, namely-veal and cakes. It therefore follows, that the account, as recorded of the Lord's dining with Abram, must be taken in its plain and literal sense; because it is connected with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and also of Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt; which account is referred to as having taken place, by the writers of the New Testament. After the Lord and the two angels had retired from dinner, the Lord informed Abram of his errand to the above cities; which was, to find out whether their ill-fated inhabitants were

to be the only man in Sodom that was worth saving; and he certainly acted very strange: for when his townsmen insisted on knowing who the angels were, and on what business they came, Lot offered to turn into the street his two innocent daug

ount, and not very favorable to strict morality, namely-the project of his daughters in making him drunk, and the disgusting consequences that followed. Thus, it is clear, that Lot's wife (bless the good old woman!) was the best, i

the beauty of Sarah, his wife, she was instructed to call her husband her brother. It turned out as was expected, for she was recommended to Pharaoh, and taken into the royal palace. Immediately, presents came unto Abram in quick succession, consisting of "sheep and oxen, and he asses; men-servants and maidservants; and she asses and camels." Bu

home to their old pasturage, Sarah would laugh and exclaim-"See what it is to have a handsome wi

, and threatened him and all his house with death, if Sarah was not given up to her lawful husband. The King remonstrated with the Lord, and justified his conduct by declaring, that both Abram and Sarah had deceived him; and said-"In the integrity of my hearty and innocency of hands, have I done this." The Lord replie

as are recorded in the family concerns of Abram. One thing, however, is omitted; and that is, the quarrel between Sarah and Hagar. The tent or house became too hot to hold tho

, when about to become a mother, applied to the Lord for information respecting her singular situation; and the Lord informed her that she would be the mother of two celebrated nations, and satisfied her mind as to every other inquiry she made. And here we may ask, how it was that the Lord, in those days, was so easy of access? How

th and impartiality. Esau was, in a moral point of view, evidently the best of the two; but Jacob was Jehovah's choice. Esau, according to Bible history, was a hardy, industrious, and generous man. Jacob, on the other hand, was his mother's pet; and the deception which he and his mother played on old Isaac, who was blind, is in strict accordance

even with the Lord himself; always having his own self-interest in view; for, after the Lord had said, Genesis xxvii., 15, "And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have s

g with him, by stealth, the gods of Laban his father. Thus did Jacob not only triumph over the heathen gods, by carrying them off captive, but continued to adhere to Jehovah, his own God, who did not desert him in his recreant tricks. It is not to be wondered that the sons of Jacob should be so base in their actions, after th

all the grain left of the seven years' plenty; and when the famine came, the grain was sold to the inhabitants at the price that Joseph was pleased to put upon it. But the famine continued so long that all the money was spent. The poor, half-starved people told Joseph their situation, and offered their cattle in exchange for grain; the cattle were taken by him; at last, all their cattle disappeared, and the people continued