Magic Library

dogmatism: then everything becomes clear to us simultaneously from a psychological and historical perspective. Our admiration changes into calm historical research; we now see the starting points and turning points of this strangeness, which seems so inexplicable in itself, within the actual history of human development and formation. Our indignation at the human race dissipates into an involuntary, melancholy empathy for its fate and destiny.

If one goes to the Bible with such views, as is necessary in order to find the truth independent of preconceived individual opinions, one can rightly call an exegesis of this kind a universal-historical one. One must grant credence to its results, however little one might be satisfied with these results on a higher level of education if they—for example, as in the present case—stand directly opposed to all better concepts of reason and to the entire sequence of all other generally recognized human knowledge and experience, and mock them, as it were; yes, as one may add, inflict pain upon humanity, like the assumption underlying our investigation.

And according to this idea of a higher, general historical perspective, we will now carry out the subject of our investigation in this second division, also in relation to the

until we arrive from the oldest Jewish writers,