Amongthescienceswhichhaveservedasenteringwedgesintotheheavymassofecclesiasticalorthodoxy——tocleaveit，disintegrateit，andletthelightofChristianityintoit——noneperhapshasdoneamorestrikingworkthanComparativePhilology。
Inoneveryimportantrespectthehistoryofthissciencediffersfromthatofanyother；foritistheonlyonewhoseconclusionstheologianshaveatlastfullyadoptedastheresultoftheirownstudies。Thisadoptionteachesagreatlesson，since，whileithasdestroyedtheologicalviewscherishedduringmanycenturies，andobligedtheChurchtoaccepttheoriesdirectlycontrarytotheplainletterofoursacredbooks，theresultisclearlyseentohavehelpedChristianityratherthantohavehurtit。Ithascertainlydonemuchtoclearourreligiousfoundationsofthedogmaticrustwhichwaseatingintotheirstructure。
Howthisresultwasreached，andwhytheChurchhassofullyacceptedit，Ishallendeavourtoshowinthepresentchapter。
Ataveryearlyperiodintheevolutionofcivilizationmenbegantoaskquestionsregardinglanguage；andtheanswerstothesequestionswerenaturallyembodiedinthemyths，legends，andchroniclesoftheirsacredbooks。
Amongtheforemostofthesequestionswerethree：“Whencecamelanguage？”“Whichwasthefirstlanguage？”“Howcamethediversityoflanguage？”