During the fierce controversy between the divines of the Protestant
Reformation and those of the Roman Catholic Church, the latter asserted
that the former treated the Bible--and treated it quite naturally--as a
wax nose, which could be twisted into any shape and direction. Those
who championed the living voice of God in the Church, against the
dead letter of the written Bible, were always prone to deride the
consequences of private judgment when applied to such a large and
heterogeneous volume as the Christian Scriptures. They contended that
the Bible is a misleading book when read by itself in the mere light
of human reason; that any doctrine may be proved from it by a
judicious selection of texts; and that Christianity would break up into
innumerable sects unless the Church acted as the inspired interpreter of
the inspired revelation. They argued, further, that the Bible was really
not what the Protestants supposed it to be; and what they said on this
point was a curious anticipation of a good deal of the so-called Higher
Criticism.
Both sides were right, and both sides were wrong, in this dispute. The
Protestants were right against the Church; the Catholics were right
against the Bible. It was reserved for Rationalism to accept
and harmonise the double truth, and to wage war against both
infallibilities.
The Bible is said to be inspired, but the man who reads it is not. The
consequence is that he deduces from it a creed in harmony with his own
taste, temper, fancy, and intelligence. He lays emphasis on what fits in
with this creed, and slurs over all that is opposed to it. Every one of
the various and conflicting Protestant sects is founded upon one and
the same infallible book. "The Bible teaches this," says one; "The Bible
teaches that," says another. And they are both right. The Bible does
teach the doctrines of all the sects. But do they not contradict each
other? They do. What is the explanation, then? Why this--the Bible
contradicts itself.
The self-contradictions of the Bible have occasioned the writing of many
"Harmonies," in which it is sought to be proved that all the apparent
discrepancies are most admirable agreements when they are properly
understood. All that is requisite is to add a word here, and subtract a
word there; to regard one and the same word as having several different
meanings, and several different words as having one and the same
meaning; and, above all things, to apply this method with a strong and
earnest desire to find harmony everywhere, and a pious intention of
giving the Bible the benefit of the doubt in every case of perplexity.
This sort of jugglery, which would be derided and despised in the case
of any other book, is now falling into discredit. Most of the clergy are
ashamed of it. They frankly own, since it can no longer be denied,
that a more honest art of criticism is necessary to save the Bible from
general contempt.
But the "Harmony" game is not the only one that is played out. All the
"Reconciliations" of the Bible with science, history, morality, and
common sense, are sharing the same fate. The higher clergy leave
such exhibitions of perverted ingenuity to laymen like the late Mr.
Gladstone. Divines like Canon Driver see that this mental tight-rope
dancing may cause astonishment, but will never produce conviction. They
therefore recognise the difficulties, and seek for a more subtle and
plausible method of removing them. They admit that Moses and Darwin are
at variance with each other; that a great deal of Bible "history" is
legendary, and some of it distinctly false; that such stories as those
of Lot's wife and Jonah's whale are decidedly incredible; that some
passages of Scripture are vulgar and brutal, and others detestably
inhuman; and that it is positively useless to disguise the fact. Yet
they are naturally anxious to keep the Bible on its old pedestal;
and this can only be done by means of a new theory of inspiration.
Accordingly, these gentlemen tell us that the Bible is not the Word of
God, but it contains the Word of God. Its writers were inspired, but
their own natural faculties were not entirely suppressed by the
divine spirit. Sometimes the writer's spirit was predominant in the
combination, and the composition was mainly that of an unregenerate
son of Adam. At other times the divine spirit was predominant, and the
result was lofty religion and pure ethics. Moreover, the sacred writers
were only inspired in one direction. God gave them a lift, as it were,
in spiritual matters; but in science and sociology he let them blunder
along as they could.
The old wax nose is now receiving a decided new twist, and a
considerable number of accomplished and clever divines are engaged in
manipulating it. One of them is Dean Farrar, who has recently published
a bulky volume on _The Bible: its Meaning and Supremacy_, which we shall
subject to a very careful criticism.
Dean Farrar's book contains nothing that is new to fairly well-read
sceptics. It presents the commonplaces of modern Biblical criticism,
with a due regard to the interests of "the grand old book" and of "true"
and "fundamental" Christianity, which is probably no more than the
particular form of Christianity that is likely to weather the present
storm of controversy. But although this book contains no startling
novelties, it is of importance as the work of a dignitary of the Church
of England. It is also of value, inasmuch as it will be read by many
persons who would shrink from Strauss and Thomas Paine. It is well that
someone should tell Christians the truth, if not the _whole_ truth,
about the Bible, and tell it them from within the fold of faith. His
motive in doing so may be less a regard for truth itself than for the
immediate interests of his own Church; but the main thing is that he
does it, and Freethinkers may be glad even if they are not grateful.
Dr. Farrar's book has an Introduction, and we propose to examine it
first. He opens by telling the clergy that they ought not to pursue an
"ostrich policy" in regard to religious difficulties; that they
should not indulge in "vituperative phrases," nor assume a "disdainful
infallibility"; that they do wrong in denouncing as "wicked,"
"blasphemous," or "dangerous" every conviction which differs from their
own form of orthodoxy; and that they must not expect all that they
choose to assert to be "accepted with humble acquiescence." No doubt
this advice is quite necessary; and the fact that it is so shows
the value of Christianity, after eighteen centuries of trial, as a
training-school in the virtues of modesty and humility, to say nothing
of justice and temperance.
The clergy are also invited by Dr. Farrar to recognise the general
diffusion of scepticism:--
"In recent years much has been written under the assumption that
Christianity no longer deserves the dignity of a refutation; or that,
at any rate, the bases on which it rests have been seriously undermined.
The writings of freethinkers are widely disseminated among the working
classes. The Church of Christ has lost its hold on multitudes of men
in our great cities. Those of the clergy who are working in the crowded
centres of English life can hardly be unaware of the extent to which
scepticism exists among our artizans. Many of them have been persuaded
to believe that the Church is a hostile and organised hypocrisy."
This is a sad state of things, and how is it to be met?
Not by denouncing reason as a wild beast, nor yet by relying on emotion
and ceremonial, for "no religious system will be permanent which is
not based on the convictions of the intellect." Dr. Farrar recommends a
different policy. He has "frequently observed that the objections urged
against Christianity are aimed at dogmas which are no part of Christian
faith, or are in no wise essential to its integrity." Even men of
science have been led astray by objections "based on travesties of its
real tenets." One of these false opinions is that "which maintains
the supposed inerrancy and supernatural infallibility of every book,
sentence, and word of the Holy Bible." This is the principal point to be
dealt with; it is here that we must make an adjustment. Nine-tenths of
the case of sceptics "is made up of attacks on the Bible," and the only
way to answer them is to show that they misunderstand it, and that what
they demolish is not Christianity, but "a mummy elaborately painted in
its semblance," or "a scarecrow set up in its guise."
"It is no part of the Christian faith," Dr. Farrar says, "to maintain
that every word of the Bible was dictated supernaturally, or is equally
valuable, or free from all error, or on the loftiest levels of morality,
as finally revealed." Such a view of the Bible has been popularly
expressed by divines, but they really did not mean it, and it "never
formed any part of the Catholic creed of Christendom." The doctrine of
everlasting punishment is another of these delusions. There is such
a thing as future punishment, but it is not everlasting--it is only
eternal. In the same way, the Bible is the Word of God, but it is not
infallible--it is only inspired. And what _that_ means we shall see as
we proceed.