The Giant Cities of Bashan and Syria's Holy Places

By Josias Leslie Porter

During all my journeys the bible was my constant companion. I read its prophecies, as well as its history, amid the scenes to which they refer. I could not shut my eyes to the graphic details of the Record, nor to the ruin and desolations of the land; and I could not resist the conclusions which a careful comparison forced upon me. I do not wish, my Lord, to make you in any way responsible for these conclusions, or for the views I have ventured to express. Free thought and free Inquiry, con ducted honestly, and in the case of the Bible reverentially, is the right of every man. This, while fully granting it to others, I claim for myself. I have in all cases attempted to exhibit two pictures, — one of the country, as seen by myself; another as sketched by the Hebrew prophets. My readers, if not satisfied with my conclusions, can draw their own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Release date: Nov 6, 2017

Josias Leslie Porter

Josias Leslie Porter was an Irish Presbyterian minister, missionary and traveller. Porter was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Derry on 20 November 1844. He was ordained on 25 February 1846, and until 1849 was minister of the congregation of High Bridge, Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was then sent to Damascus as a missionary to the Jews by the board of missions of the Irish Presbyterian Church. He reached Syria in December 1849, and remained there for ten years. He wrote this work during his residency and in it he maintains that the massive buildings, the ruins of which are in Bashan, were the work of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country before its occupation by the Hebrews.