It is the endeavor of the author to meet, as un-technically as possible, the difficulties of men and women to whom the Old Testament is still a valuable part of the Bible, but who find it an indigestible element in the Biblical rationale of their beliefs. A frank evaluation of the morals of the Old Testament in the light of historical criticism is the only effective solvent. For this reason the author has not been content merely to record facts, but has applied to them the moral judgments which lie implicit in the thought of moral progress.