Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
0!He Ang
words , the other before the deluge ., the paragraph containing which we quote " : — : ; : " The mysteries , after they were once instituted , which probably took place on the plains of Shinar , before the dispersion of mankind , spread over the world , " with a rapidity which is truly astonishing . "
Here is surely the assignation of two distinct periods for the same event , nor can we sympathize entirely with the learned author , in
another passage in the same work , in which he asserts that " Enoch gave to these rites ( the rites of initiation , & c ) , a decisive character , and added to the practice of d ivine worship the study and application of human science . " He then quotes the following passage ( Bar Hebrseus , cited by Wait , Orient . Ant . p . 182 ) : — . " Enoch was the first who invented books and different sorts of writing . The ancient Greeks declare , that Enoch is the same as Mercury Trismegistus , and that he taught the sons of men the art of building cities , and enacted some admirable laws . In his days , a hundred and eighty cities were built : of these , that which wa , s the least , was Edessa . He discovered
the knowledge of the zodiac , aiid the course of the planets ; and he pointed out to the sons of men that they should worship God , that they should fast , that they should pray , that th votive oflferings , and tenths . He reprobated abominable foods and drunkenness , and appointed festivals for sacrifices to the sun at each of the zodiacal signs , & c , & e . "
It will be observed , continues Dr . Oliver , that in the latter part of the above quotation , Enoch is converted into an idolator ; but the author evidently blends into one , the characters of Enoch and Enos . According to our traditions , Enoch was a very eminent Freemason , and the conservator ofthe true name of God , which was subsequently lost , even amongst his own favoured people , the Jews .
Now , with regard to the above passages , both of Oliver and the author whom he quotes , we must observe some few manifest discrepancies . With respect to Enoch , in the first place , we may remark that there are mentioned In Holy Scripture two Enochs , tod an Enos besides . Their dates are respectively ( we will call them I . and XL , for the sake of distinction , Enoch II . being , it will be remembered , the one most generally known ) , Enoch I ,, the son of Cain ,
B . C . < 387 o , or a . l . [ JiV ; Enos , the son ot betli , B . C . o 7 by , or A . L . 235 ; Enoch II ,, the son of Jared , B . C . 3382 , or a , l . 622 ; leaving a space of 106 years between Enoch I . and Enos , of 387 years between Enos and Enoch II ., and of 493 , or nearly 500 years , more than half a lifetime of that period , between Enoch I . and Enoch II . Now , the Bible being the only book which gives any authentic record whatever of those who lived in these early times , we
must be very cautious in coming to historical conclusions about persons therein spoken of ; and inasmuch as it is only recorded of Enoch I . that he built one city named Enoch , and that he had a son named Irad j of Enos , that he had a son named Cainan and other children , and that he lived nine hundred and five years ; and of Enoch II . i that he had a son named Methuselah , and other children , 2 n 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
0!He Ang
words , the other before the deluge ., the paragraph containing which we quote " : — : ; : " The mysteries , after they were once instituted , which probably took place on the plains of Shinar , before the dispersion of mankind , spread over the world , " with a rapidity which is truly astonishing . "
Here is surely the assignation of two distinct periods for the same event , nor can we sympathize entirely with the learned author , in
another passage in the same work , in which he asserts that " Enoch gave to these rites ( the rites of initiation , & c ) , a decisive character , and added to the practice of d ivine worship the study and application of human science . " He then quotes the following passage ( Bar Hebrseus , cited by Wait , Orient . Ant . p . 182 ) : — . " Enoch was the first who invented books and different sorts of writing . The ancient Greeks declare , that Enoch is the same as Mercury Trismegistus , and that he taught the sons of men the art of building cities , and enacted some admirable laws . In his days , a hundred and eighty cities were built : of these , that which wa , s the least , was Edessa . He discovered
the knowledge of the zodiac , aiid the course of the planets ; and he pointed out to the sons of men that they should worship God , that they should fast , that they should pray , that th votive oflferings , and tenths . He reprobated abominable foods and drunkenness , and appointed festivals for sacrifices to the sun at each of the zodiacal signs , & c , & e . "
It will be observed , continues Dr . Oliver , that in the latter part of the above quotation , Enoch is converted into an idolator ; but the author evidently blends into one , the characters of Enoch and Enos . According to our traditions , Enoch was a very eminent Freemason , and the conservator ofthe true name of God , which was subsequently lost , even amongst his own favoured people , the Jews .
Now , with regard to the above passages , both of Oliver and the author whom he quotes , we must observe some few manifest discrepancies . With respect to Enoch , in the first place , we may remark that there are mentioned In Holy Scripture two Enochs , tod an Enos besides . Their dates are respectively ( we will call them I . and XL , for the sake of distinction , Enoch II . being , it will be remembered , the one most generally known ) , Enoch I ,, the son of Cain ,
B . C . < 387 o , or a . l . [ JiV ; Enos , the son ot betli , B . C . o 7 by , or A . L . 235 ; Enoch II ,, the son of Jared , B . C . 3382 , or a , l . 622 ; leaving a space of 106 years between Enoch I . and Enos , of 387 years between Enos and Enoch II ., and of 493 , or nearly 500 years , more than half a lifetime of that period , between Enoch I . and Enoch II . Now , the Bible being the only book which gives any authentic record whatever of those who lived in these early times , we
must be very cautious in coming to historical conclusions about persons therein spoken of ; and inasmuch as it is only recorded of Enoch I . that he built one city named Enoch , and that he had a son named Irad j of Enos , that he had a son named Cainan and other children , and that he lived nine hundred and five years ; and of Enoch II . i that he had a son named Methuselah , and other children , 2 n 2