Eighth Principle.—“I firmly believe that the Law which we possess now is the same which has been given to Moses on Sinai.” The whole Torah, including both history and precepts, is of Divine origin; nothing is contained in the Torah that was not revealed to Moses by the Almighty, although we do not know in what manner Moses received the information. The history of preceding generations was probably handed down to his time by tradition; in part it may have been contained in documents then extant, as is likely to have been the case with the various genealogies mentioned in the Pentateuch. But it was by Divine inspiration that Moses knew to distinguish between truth and error, between fiction and reality. The events recorded in the Pentateuch are to demonstrate and to keep constantly before our eyes the fact that there is a higher Power that ordains the fate of men and nations according to their deeds. Everything is described in a simple and objective manner. Although the whole Torah is the work of Moses, the great prophet speaks of himself everywhere in the third person, except in the Book of Deuteronomy, in which he records his addresses to the people in the last year of his life. The last few verses, which describe the death of Moses, the mourning of the Israelites for the death of their teacher, and his exaltation above all other prophets, have been added to the Torah by Joshua the son of Nun, the leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses. Thus, from that day until the present the Torah, in its integrity, has been in the hands of the children of Israel. It was guarded as the most valuable national treasure, and although there have been not a few generations which were corrupt and idolatrous, Israel has never been entirely bereaved of pious and faithful worshippers of the true God; and when in one generation or period the study and the practice of the Torah were neglected, they were resumed with greater vigour and zeal in the next.