What do you think?
Rate this book
The Pentateuch and book of Joshua critically examined, by the Right Rev. John William Colenso 1873 [Leather Bound]
Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden Leaf Printing on round Spine (extra customization on request like complete leather, Golden Screen printing in Front, Color Leather, Colored book etc.) Reprinted in 2018 with the help of original edition published long back [1873]. This book is printed in black & white, sewing binding for longer life, printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume, if you wish to order a specific or all the volumes you may contact us. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. - eng, Pages 472. EXTRA 10 DAYS APART FROM THE NORMAL SHIPPING PERIOD WILL BE REQUIRED FOR LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. COMPLETE LEATHER WILL COST YOU EXTRA US$ 25 APART FROM THE LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. {FOLIO EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.} Complete The Pentateuch and book of Joshua critically examined, by the Right Rev. John William Colenso ... 1873 Colenso, John William, -.
472 pages, Leather Bound
Published January 1, 2018
About the author
John William Colenso
254 books1 followerJohn William Colenso (1814–1883) was a British mathematician, theologian, Biblical scholar and social activist, who was the first Church of England Bishop of Natal. He was the father of Frances E. Colenso
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 14, 2024
A FAMOUS 19TH CRITIQUE OF THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE
John William Colenso (1814-1883) was a Cornish cleric, biblical scholar and mathematician; he was a missionary and defender of the Zulu, and served as the first Bishop of Natal.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1862 book, “I have been closely occupied in the study of the Zulu tongue, and in translating the Scriptures into it… Here, however… amidst my work in this land, I have been brought face to face with … questions… While translating the story of the Flood, I have had … [an] intelligent native… look up, and ask, ‘Is all that true? Do you really believe that … all the beasts… from hot countries and cold, came thus by pairs, and entered into the ark with Noah? And did Noah gather food for them ALL[?]… I now knew for certain, on geological grounds… that a universal Deluge … could not possibly have taken place in the way described in the book of Genesis… volcanic hills exist of immense extent … which must have been formed ages before the Noachian Deluge, and which are covered with light and loose substances… that must have been swept away by a Flood, but do not exhibit the slightest sign of having ever been so disturbed… Nor is anything really gained by supposing the Deluge to have been partial… a Flood, which should begin by covering the top of Ararat… must necessarily … in due time sweep over the hills…” (Pg. vi-viii)
Later, he adds, “There can be no doubt … that that a very widespread distrust does exist among the intelligent Laity in England, as to the soundness of the ordinary view of Scripture Inspiration… a young man’s entering the Ministry of the Church of England is, that he … bind himself for life to ‘believe unfeignedly in all the Canonical Scriptures’ … The Church of England must fall to the ground … by losing its hold upon the growing intelligence of all classes. Unless some remedy be very soon applied to this state of things. It is a miserable policy, which now prevails … to ‘keep things quiet.’ Meanwhile, a restrain is put upon scientific inquiry of every kind, by the fear of transgressing … the bounds, which the Scripture statements are supposed to have set to such speculations…” (Pg. xxiii-xxiv) Later, he adds, “I have written this book… for all, who would really see and know the actual Truth in this matter. I have desired to set before the reader at full length the arguments, by which I have been myself convinced upon the subject…” (Pg. xxvii)
In the Introductory Remarks he further explains, “I am not speaking here of a number of petty variations and contradictions… which may be in many cases sufficiently explained… or by supposing some … corruption of the original manuscript… Nor are the difficulties … of the same kind… which arise from considering … the stupendous character of certain miracles, as that of the sun and moon standing still… I shall never forget the revulsion of feeling, with … a very intelligent Christian native… first heard [Ex 21:4, 20-21] as words said to be uttered by the … Being, whom I was teaching him to trust in and adore. His whole soul revolted against the notion that [God]… would speak of a servant or maid as mere ‘money’… I cannot, as a true man, consent any longer to shut my eyes to the absolute, palpable, self-contradictions of the narrative.” (Pg. 8-10) He adds, “it is, perhaps, God’s Will that we shall be taught… not to build up our faith upon a Book… but to realize … the blessedness of knowing that … the living God … is nearer and closer to us than any book can be…” (Pg. 12)
Noting of Joshua 8:34-35 that orthodox commentators estimate the size of the ‘Congregation of Israel’ that Joshua addressed as between 2-3 million, “no human voice … could have reached the ears of a crowded mass of people, as large as the whole population of London.” (Pg. 35-37) Of Lev. 4:11-12 (which states that the Priest shall carry the remainders of sacrifices ‘without the Camp’), he estimates the size of the Camp to be 1652 acres… [and] would have had to be carried by the Priest himself … a distance of three-quarters of a mile…” (Pg. 38-39)
He states that Ex 16:16 says that “the people were provided with TENTS… allowing ten persons for each tent… two millions of people would require 200,000 tents. How then did they acquire these?... how could they have carried them… since these were already occupied with other burdens… they must have taken with them grain or flour enough for at least a month’s use, since they had no manna given to them till … the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure.” (Pg. 46-47)
He observes that Ex. 13:18 states that the men of Israel were ‘armed’: “It is, however, inconceivable that these down-trodden, oppressed people should have been allowed by Pharaoh to possess arms, so as to turn out at a moment’s notice 600,000 armed men… nearly nine times as great as the whole of Wellington’s army at Waterloo… had [they] had arms in their hands, would they not have risen long ago for their liberty[?]” (Pg. 48)
He argues, “Dan in the first generation has ONE son, Hushim [Gen 46:23] had ONLY one son, appears from Num 26:42, where the sons of Dan consist of only one family. Hence we may reckon that in the fourth generation he would have had 27 warriors descended from him, instead of 62,700, as they are numbered in Num 2:26… In order to have had this number born to him, we must support that Dan’s one son, and each of HIS sons and grandsons, must have had about 80 children of both sexes…” (Pg. 107)
Similarly, he asks, “how many Priests were there?... There were only THREE---Aaron (till his death) and his two sons, Eleazer and Ithamar… Yet how was it possible that these two or three men should have discharged al these duties for such a vast multitude? The single work, of offering the double sacrifice for women after childbirth, must have utterly overpowered three Priests … the births among two millions of people may be reckoned as, at least, 250 a day, for which, consequently, 500 sacrifices … would have had to be offered daily… we can scarcely allow less then FIVE MINUTES for each sacrifice; so that these sacrifices alone, would have taken nearly 42 hours, and co0uld not have been offered in a single day of twelve hours…” (Pg. 123-124)
He summarizes, “the account of the Exodus of the Israelites, as given in the Pentateuch, whatever real foundation it may have had in the ancient history of the people, is mixed up, at all events, with so great an amount of contradictory matter, that it cannot be regarded as historically true, so as to be appealed to, as absolute, incontestable matter of fact…” (Pg. 141)
He points out, “it may be that the time is near at hand… when the way shall be opened for a wide extension of Missionary work among the heathen---when that work, which now languishes… shall no longer be impeded by the necessity of our laying down… stories like these for their reception… and requiring them, upon pain of eternal misery, to ‘believe’ in them all ‘unfeignedly’…” (Pg. 149)
He continues, “in order to avert the shock, which our children’s faith must otherwise experience… that the Bible can no longer be regarded as infallibly true in matters of common history… let us teach them … to know that they are not to look for the inspiration of the Holy One… ion respect of any such matters as these, which the writers wrote as men, and where they must be judged.. by the just laws of criticism.” (Pg. 152)
He concludes, “we may lead them to recognize the fact, that … the name of God, I AM… whether written by Moses or by some other fellow-man, were yet written by one, who was specially inspired, first to conceive himself this transcendent, divine, thought, and then to express and tell it forth to others… they must e taught to recognize the value of God’s Spirit… and to realize the solid comfort of the thought that, not in the Bible only, but also out of the Bible… the same Gracious Teacher is revealing, in different measures, according to His own good pleasure, the hidden things of God.” (Pg. 153-154)
Colenso’s style of critiques are somewhat ‘unfashionable’ these days; but this book was VERY influential in its time.
John William Colenso (1814-1883) was a Cornish cleric, biblical scholar and mathematician; he was a missionary and defender of the Zulu, and served as the first Bishop of Natal.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1862 book, “I have been closely occupied in the study of the Zulu tongue, and in translating the Scriptures into it… Here, however… amidst my work in this land, I have been brought face to face with … questions… While translating the story of the Flood, I have had … [an] intelligent native… look up, and ask, ‘Is all that true? Do you really believe that … all the beasts… from hot countries and cold, came thus by pairs, and entered into the ark with Noah? And did Noah gather food for them ALL[?]… I now knew for certain, on geological grounds… that a universal Deluge … could not possibly have taken place in the way described in the book of Genesis… volcanic hills exist of immense extent … which must have been formed ages before the Noachian Deluge, and which are covered with light and loose substances… that must have been swept away by a Flood, but do not exhibit the slightest sign of having ever been so disturbed… Nor is anything really gained by supposing the Deluge to have been partial… a Flood, which should begin by covering the top of Ararat… must necessarily … in due time sweep over the hills…” (Pg. vi-viii)
Later, he adds, “There can be no doubt … that that a very widespread distrust does exist among the intelligent Laity in England, as to the soundness of the ordinary view of Scripture Inspiration… a young man’s entering the Ministry of the Church of England is, that he … bind himself for life to ‘believe unfeignedly in all the Canonical Scriptures’ … The Church of England must fall to the ground … by losing its hold upon the growing intelligence of all classes. Unless some remedy be very soon applied to this state of things. It is a miserable policy, which now prevails … to ‘keep things quiet.’ Meanwhile, a restrain is put upon scientific inquiry of every kind, by the fear of transgressing … the bounds, which the Scripture statements are supposed to have set to such speculations…” (Pg. xxiii-xxiv) Later, he adds, “I have written this book… for all, who would really see and know the actual Truth in this matter. I have desired to set before the reader at full length the arguments, by which I have been myself convinced upon the subject…” (Pg. xxvii)
In the Introductory Remarks he further explains, “I am not speaking here of a number of petty variations and contradictions… which may be in many cases sufficiently explained… or by supposing some … corruption of the original manuscript… Nor are the difficulties … of the same kind… which arise from considering … the stupendous character of certain miracles, as that of the sun and moon standing still… I shall never forget the revulsion of feeling, with … a very intelligent Christian native… first heard [Ex 21:4, 20-21] as words said to be uttered by the … Being, whom I was teaching him to trust in and adore. His whole soul revolted against the notion that [God]… would speak of a servant or maid as mere ‘money’… I cannot, as a true man, consent any longer to shut my eyes to the absolute, palpable, self-contradictions of the narrative.” (Pg. 8-10) He adds, “it is, perhaps, God’s Will that we shall be taught… not to build up our faith upon a Book… but to realize … the blessedness of knowing that … the living God … is nearer and closer to us than any book can be…” (Pg. 12)
Noting of Joshua 8:34-35 that orthodox commentators estimate the size of the ‘Congregation of Israel’ that Joshua addressed as between 2-3 million, “no human voice … could have reached the ears of a crowded mass of people, as large as the whole population of London.” (Pg. 35-37) Of Lev. 4:11-12 (which states that the Priest shall carry the remainders of sacrifices ‘without the Camp’), he estimates the size of the Camp to be 1652 acres… [and] would have had to be carried by the Priest himself … a distance of three-quarters of a mile…” (Pg. 38-39)
He states that Ex 16:16 says that “the people were provided with TENTS… allowing ten persons for each tent… two millions of people would require 200,000 tents. How then did they acquire these?... how could they have carried them… since these were already occupied with other burdens… they must have taken with them grain or flour enough for at least a month’s use, since they had no manna given to them till … the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure.” (Pg. 46-47)
He observes that Ex. 13:18 states that the men of Israel were ‘armed’: “It is, however, inconceivable that these down-trodden, oppressed people should have been allowed by Pharaoh to possess arms, so as to turn out at a moment’s notice 600,000 armed men… nearly nine times as great as the whole of Wellington’s army at Waterloo… had [they] had arms in their hands, would they not have risen long ago for their liberty[?]” (Pg. 48)
He argues, “Dan in the first generation has ONE son, Hushim [Gen 46:23] had ONLY one son, appears from Num 26:42, where the sons of Dan consist of only one family. Hence we may reckon that in the fourth generation he would have had 27 warriors descended from him, instead of 62,700, as they are numbered in Num 2:26… In order to have had this number born to him, we must support that Dan’s one son, and each of HIS sons and grandsons, must have had about 80 children of both sexes…” (Pg. 107)
Similarly, he asks, “how many Priests were there?... There were only THREE---Aaron (till his death) and his two sons, Eleazer and Ithamar… Yet how was it possible that these two or three men should have discharged al these duties for such a vast multitude? The single work, of offering the double sacrifice for women after childbirth, must have utterly overpowered three Priests … the births among two millions of people may be reckoned as, at least, 250 a day, for which, consequently, 500 sacrifices … would have had to be offered daily… we can scarcely allow less then FIVE MINUTES for each sacrifice; so that these sacrifices alone, would have taken nearly 42 hours, and co0uld not have been offered in a single day of twelve hours…” (Pg. 123-124)
He summarizes, “the account of the Exodus of the Israelites, as given in the Pentateuch, whatever real foundation it may have had in the ancient history of the people, is mixed up, at all events, with so great an amount of contradictory matter, that it cannot be regarded as historically true, so as to be appealed to, as absolute, incontestable matter of fact…” (Pg. 141)
He points out, “it may be that the time is near at hand… when the way shall be opened for a wide extension of Missionary work among the heathen---when that work, which now languishes… shall no longer be impeded by the necessity of our laying down… stories like these for their reception… and requiring them, upon pain of eternal misery, to ‘believe’ in them all ‘unfeignedly’…” (Pg. 149)
He continues, “in order to avert the shock, which our children’s faith must otherwise experience… that the Bible can no longer be regarded as infallibly true in matters of common history… let us teach them … to know that they are not to look for the inspiration of the Holy One… ion respect of any such matters as these, which the writers wrote as men, and where they must be judged.. by the just laws of criticism.” (Pg. 152)
He concludes, “we may lead them to recognize the fact, that … the name of God, I AM… whether written by Moses or by some other fellow-man, were yet written by one, who was specially inspired, first to conceive himself this transcendent, divine, thought, and then to express and tell it forth to others… they must e taught to recognize the value of God’s Spirit… and to realize the solid comfort of the thought that, not in the Bible only, but also out of the Bible… the same Gracious Teacher is revealing, in different measures, according to His own good pleasure, the hidden things of God.” (Pg. 153-154)
Colenso’s style of critiques are somewhat ‘unfashionable’ these days; but this book was VERY influential in its time.
Displaying 1 of 1 review