ABSTRACT
Fairy tales have their place not only in literature but also in history. The account of creation in the opening chapter of Genesis, or the recital of the miraculous acts of Jesus in the Gospels, is beautiful prose, in fact beautiful poetry. But the religious scribes have given both a historic tinge without doing any violence to the facts. No possible objection can be leveled against the scientific methodology of these writers of old; they intentionally dressed their fairy tales in historic costumes. They knew exactly what they did. They never thought it their duty to refrain from embellishing the materials which they analyzed. They spun phantasies to suit themselves, and offered apologies to none. 1
