[INTRODUCTION] There are several books and articles dealing with the social or ethical character of the Old Testament, and with the social and religious life in general of the Hebrew people. But in my investigation I have been unable to find any data systematically arranged on the biblical record of the evolution or development, of the ethics of the family life. Therefore, I shall attempt the working out of this theme.

[CONCLUSION] In our study of the eighth century prophets it has become increasingly plainer that we have in them much indeed that is beneficial to men of our own day who are confused as to what religion really includes within its realm and what part it has to play in solving modern social problems. Some of the teachings have been seen to have very poignant applications to sins which are very modern while even more have been found to have underlying them certain basic ethical principles which are eternally and universally true.

[INTRODUCTION] Between the Old and the New Testaments there is, for most persons, a "great gulf fixed.” We think of these years from the writing of the final Old Testament word to the opening of the New Testament as a period of silence v/hen God either had no voice through which to speak unto the children of men or else had no message to give them. It is for the purpose of reviewing briefly the important eschatological features of these years which, contrary to popular supposition, are fruitful in religious literature, that this thesis is presented.

[PREFACE] After faithfully and conscientiously covering the field of the Reform as contained in the Book of Deuteronomy, taking copious notes on the same, I have come to the realization that the subject is a big one, and cannot be discussed adequately in a thesis of this length. However, I am trying to do four things: First, to give the background of the Reform as to name, date, authorship, conditions and aim. Second, to describe briefly, from a nontechnical standpoint, the character of the laws. Third, to show the influence and permanent value of the Reform. Fourth, to relate the Reform to the modern world problems. There is little material on the last point, thus It will be necessary for me to draw my own conclusions largely, which conclusions may be Premature, yet, it will be my purpose to seek to make a contact between the times of Deuteronomy and the present social order.

[The meaning of the word prophet is, one who speaks forth a message. It represents in scripture a Hebrew, word nabhi, which means speaker, or rather spokesman, one who speaks for another. Prediction may be an aspect of the prophet’s message, but it is no part of the meaning of the word either in Greek or Hebrew. The prophet is not characteristically one who foretells the future: he forthtells the Divine word. His task is to interpret the present, under guidance of the spirit of God which possesses him. He hears and speaks- that is his function.]

[Religion and Poetry are two most potent and far-reaching words. Without religion, though God would still he God, He would he banished from men’s thoughts of Him, and the earth, in other than a physical sense would be, as at the beginning, without form and void, Without Poetry, there would be a closing of vistas, a darkening of the heavens, a general shutting up within the limits of the material and the commonplace. The wise man of old declared that where there is no vision the people perish. If we think of humanity as one great body, the poets are, as it were, the eyes. If they were lacking, the blackness of thick darkness would settle down over a large part of life. Religion is man’s going out to God. Poetry, on the other hand, is man’s highest thought about himself - [the world he lives in, the problems which he has to face. It is inevitable that such thought should, sooner or later, lead to God; but in poetry God is not, as in religion the professed goal. Religion deals with the will, poetry quickens the emotions. Religion sets forth duties. It is the business of poetry to fill those duties with enthusiasm. The Prophet speaks to man for God. The poet, at his highest, speaks to God for men. Poetry becomes the handmaid, of Religion in broadening the horizon of men and bids them "look abroad I and see to what fair countries they are bound", The man |who cannot picture to himself what he has not directly before his eyes is bound to be, not only a heretic, but a bore. He is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils, or for whatever may chance to come his way. He is a roaring lion in the house, and a biting serpent in the path. He canonized prejudice, and deifies intellectual sluggishness. Against such a half-life, so dead a mind in an ungoverned body. Poetry lifts a warning voice. It calls up on men to think, and to think of something besides their own rights, and their neighbors’ errors.]

[The last commission of Christ, ”Go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatever i commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world", has been the inspiration for every truly Christian missionary enterprise since the beginning. Some have rejected the words as being from the lips of Jesus; yet whether they are accepted, or not, it was the, spirit of Christ. And from the time of Christ on earth, the Christian truth has never lacked champions among heathen peoples. Yet Christ only gave the commission, he has left it to those who would take up his Cross to work out the details of adaptation. This is the task of the missionary enterprise.]

[PREFACE] It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the influence of the Babylonian Exile on the Hebrew religion. However we do not regard it expedient to plunge at once into the major portions of our theme, To do so would be like trying to view, with ease of mind, a scene, in the midst of total ignorance as to the nature of the lay of the land behind one. Therefore, with our first three chapters, we purpose to construct a background for our main matter, so that we shall have at least, a general idea of the historical and literary setting for the subject of our direct consideration. In developing this Thesis, we shall strive to study, in a more general way, the influences of the Exilic period on the Religion of Israel. The field is very large. And almost any one of its particular phases would lend itself to an extensive study. We may note, in going over the literature of our day, written on any peculiar subject regarding the Hebrew Religion, such as, Messianic Hope, The Rise of Personalism, The development of the Universal God idea, and ect., that one is almost sure to find a chapter devoted exclusively to the Exilic Period, as it is related to the particular theme under discussion. It is quite obvious, that the inclusive character of our subject will not permit us to dwell long on any one phase, but rather, requires us to pass on, along the whole line, and as well as we may, to point out the main features.

[The former conception of the Bible has been changed radically by the acceptance of the modern scientific point of view that regards history in an evolutionary sense. That older belief in the once perfect state of man that was marred by the sin of Adam; and that from Adam’s day since, man’s state has been growing steadily worse, is not held with much seriousness in many places now. The idea of individual responsibility has come to be more fully applied. We now regard each individual as a free agent, burdened in indirect ways by the faults of others, but in no sense condemned by thought in which he had no part in producing. The passing of this older conception has had some Influence on the thought of the periods just preceding, the opening of the Christian Era. Our Fathers regarded these years as the darkest of all the dark ones. The world had gotten to its lowest point; the process of sinking had gone on until the very base strings of the chords of iniquity had been struck; man could go no longer now; God then sent Christ, His Son, as the world’s Redeemer. But when we regard, the work of God in its totality, we find a different meaning in those words, "To the fullness of time;" and see that God through the men of old and the prophets was preparing the way that He might speak through His Son in these latter days. In accord with this general idea, one now looks for a progressive revelation that God has been making; and suspect that the period from the close of the Old Testament Canon to the opening of the New Testament is not entirely unfruitful of religious development. What that development shall consist of, remains to to discovered. Yet it may not be too presumptions to state here that Jesus begins His ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing with no very strong consciousness of an abrupt break with the past. His references are to "Those of older times" "The law and the prophets," — assuming a continuity that was apparent even in those days. For to be a leader, one in any age must have his contacts with those he hopes to lead. So we may be assured that the world's greatest Teacher and Leader in religion would hot be betrayed into the futility of a complete break with the thought, life, and beliefs current in His time. Accordingly, an effort will be made in this discussion to gather up some of those connections found in the teachings concerning the last things. We shall try to get the thread as presented in the closing pages of Old Testament Canon, and trace then in the process of their passing on or enlargement up to the time of the opening of the New Testament Canon.]

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