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two expanses. But that matters not. After the expanses 
come Anu ( heaven ) and his wife Amatu {earth), formed or 
born out of the lower expanse; and Bel, with his wife Beltis, 
out of the upper expanse. Now comes an abundant progeny 
of gods; Vul, god of winds; Vulcan, god of fire; then gods, 
planets, stars, men. Until Bel and Beltis made their appear- 
ance there was no sign of vital energy, but only a lingering, 
dull development of one knows not what. Surely there was 
no god in the beginning of this mythology, and when the first 
tablets were written polytheism was absolute. 
But were the wise men of Egypt more successful ? Moses 
mastered all the wisdom of Egypt, and some fancy that he 
might have utilized it in compiling the Book of Genesis ; 
which, if so composed, could not be an inspired book : and in 
framing a code of laws for the Israelities ; which would imply 
that those laws were invented by Moses, and not delivered to 
him by the Lord. 
It is indeed quite possible that uninspired writings might 
contain some vestiges of true tradition, and, in fact, many 
authentic writings confirmatory of Biblical history have been 
recovered, and are of inestimable value. But those writings 
are very various, and must be made use of with dis- 
crimination. 
Historical monuments, such as the annals of a king, the 
account of a battle, or the conveyance of an estate, or the 
notes of an astronomer, may be at once accepted as material 
of history, and much of the historical portions of the Old 
Testament is both confirmed and illustrated by original 
inscriptions from Babylon, Assyria, and Egypt. 
Tradition of events and legend have great value ; not always 
for direct confirmation, . but very often indeed for the eluci- 
dation of parts of Holy Scripture which could not be fully 
understood without a knowledge of contemporaneous litera- 
ture. Hymns, divinations, charms, blessings and cursings, 
yield much instruction, and afford points of both comparison 
and contrast with the Sacred text. 
Mythology, however, lies beyond the verge of all reality, is 
totally different from all tradition of events, and for the con- 
firmation or understanding of divine revelation it is naught. 
It adds much to the history of error; it can have contributed 
nothing to the revelation of truth. 
We are sometimes invited to believe that the Egyptians 
possessed knowledge which could only have come to them by 
revelation, or have been evolved by themselves from some 
tradition of primeval faith, and made part of their own 
religion, at the beginning nearer to truth than it afterwards 
