To the Reverend J.F. McFarland, D.D., of the Bible Study Union, to the Reverend S.A. Cooke, D.D., of the Methodist Book Concern, to Mr. John H. Scribner of the Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sunday-school Work, to the Reverend M.C. Hazard, D.D., of the Pilgrim Press, and to the Reverend F.K. Sanders, Ph.D., of the Congregational Sunday-school and Publishing Society, who have generously read the manuscript of this book, I am deeply indebted, not only for their valuable suggestions, but also for their strong expressions of personal interest in the practical ends which it seeks to conserve, I am also under great obligation to the Reverend Morgan Miller, of Yale, for his untiring vigilance in revising the proof of a volume written within the all too brief limits of a Christmas vacation. C.F.K. YALE UNIVERSITY, January, 1906. CONTENTS I. THE ECLIPSE AND REDISCOVERY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT II. THE REAL NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT III. THE EARLIEST CHAPTERS IN DIVINE REVELATION IV. THE PLACE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN DIVINE REVELATION V. THE INFLUENCES THAT PRODUCED THE NEW TESTAMENT VI. THE GROWTH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETIC HISTORIES VII. THE HISTORY OF THE PROPHETIC SERMONS, EPISTLES, AND APOCALYPSES VIII. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLIER OLD TESTAMENT LAWS IX. INFLUENCES THAT GAVE RISE TO THE PRIESTLY LAWS AND HISTORIES X. THE HEBREW SAGES AND THEIR PROVERBS XL THE WRITINGS OF ISRAEL'S PHILOSOPHERS XII. THE HISTORY OF THE PSALTER XIII. THE FORMATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON XIV. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT XV. PRACTICAL METHODS OF STUDYING THE OLD TESTAMENT XVI. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION--THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF TO-DAY I THE ECLIPSE AND REDISCOVERY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT [Sidenote: _Jesus' study of the Old Testament_] The opening chapters of the Gospels record only three or four meagre facts regarding the first thirty years of Jesus' life. The real history of those significant years ran so far beneath the surface of external events that it completely escaped the historian. The history of the mental and spiritual life of the Master is recorded in his mature character and teachings. The fugitive hints, however, vividly illustrate the supreme fact that he ever _grew stronger, becoming filled with wisdom;--and the grace of God was upon him_ (Luke ii. 40). They reveal a soul not only in closest touch with God and with human life, but also in eager quest for the vital truth regarding God and man recorded in the Scriptures of his race. It requires no imagination to picture the young Jew of Nazareth eagerly studying in the synagogue, at the temple, and alone by himself the sacred writings found in our Old Testament, for this fact is clearly recorded on every page of the Gospels. [Sidenote: _His familiarity with all parts of it_]