teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor.
2:13-14).
Those who reject the Bible ignore the spirit that pervades it, the
atmosphere that envelopes it, the harmony of its testimonies and the
unity of its structure, despite the fact that it is the product of many
writers during many centuries. Its parts were not arranged by man, but
prearranged by the Almighty.
Those who reject the Bible also ignore the prophecies and their
fulfillment--"History written in advance"--proof that appeals
irresistibly to the open mind.
Those who reject the Bible even disparage the testimony which the
Saviour bore to the inspiration of the Old Testament, and yet what could
be more explicit than His words? "And beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning himself" (Luke 24:27).
As Canon Liddon says:
"For Christians, it will be enough to know that our Lord, Jesus
Christ, set the seal of His infallible sanction on the whole of the
Old Testament. He found the Hebrew canon as we have it in our
hands to-day, and He treated it as an authority which was above
discussion. Nay, more; He went out of His way--if we may reverently
speak thus,--to sanction not a few portions of it which modern
scepticism rejects."
Besides open enemies, the Bible has enemies who are less frank--enemies
who, while claiming to be friends of Christianity, spend their time
undermining faith in God, faith in the Bible, and faith in Christ. These
professed friends call themselves higher critics--a title which--though
explained by them as purely technical--smacks of an insufferable
egotism. They assume an air of superior intelligence and look down with
mingled pity and contempt upon what they regard as poor, credulous
humanity. The higher critic is more dangerous than the open enemy. The
atheist approaches you boldly and tries to blow out your light, but, as
you know who he is, what he is trying to do and why, you can protect
yourself. The higher critic, however, comes to you in the guise of a
friend and politely inquires: "Isn't the light too near your eyes? I
fear it will injure your sight." Then he moves the light away, a little
at a time, until it is only a speck and then--invisible.
Some who have used the title "higher critic" have approached their
subject in a reverent spirit and laboured earnestly in the vain hope of
satisfying intellectual doubts, when the real trouble has been with the
hearts of objectors rather than with their heads. Religion is a matter
of the heart, and the impulses of the heart often seem foolish to the
mind. Faith is different from, and superior to, reason. Faith is a
spiritual extension of the vision--a moral sense that reaches out toward
the throne of God and takes hold of verities that the mind cannot grasp.
It is like "the blind leading the blind" for a higher critic, however
honest, to rely on purely intellectual methods to convey truths that are
"spiritually discerned."
As a rule, however, the so-called higher critic is a man without
spiritual vision, without zeal for souls and without any deep interest
in the coming of God's Kingdom. He toils not in the Master's vineyard
and yet "Solomon in all his glory" never laid claim to such wisdom as he
boasts. He does not accept the Bible nor defend it; he mutilates it. He
puts the Bible on the operating table and cuts out the parts that he
thinks are "diseased." When he has finished his work the Bible is no
longer the Book of books: it is simply "a scrap of paper."
The higher critic (I speak now of the rule and not of the exceptions)
begins his investigations with his opinion already formed. After he has
discarded the Bible because he cannot harmonize it with the doctrine
of evolution, he labours to find evidence to support his preconceived
notions. In matters of religion the higher critic is usually a
"dyspeptic." The Bible does not agree with him; he has not the spiritual
fluids in sufficient quantity to enable him to digest the miracle and
the supernatural. He is a doubter and spreads doubts.
Dr. Franklin Johnson, in Volume 2, of "Fundamentals" says (pages 55, 56,
57): "A third fallacy of the higher critics is the doctrine concerning
the Scriptures which they teach. If a consistent hypothesis of evolution
is made the basis of our religious thinking, the Bible will be regarded
as only a product of human nature working in the field of religious
literature. It will be merely a natural book."...
Again: "Yet another fallacy of the higher critics is found in their
teachings concerning the Biblical miracles. If the hypothesis of
evolution is applied to the Scriptures consistently, it will lead us to
deny all the miracles which they record."...
And: "Among the higher critics who accept some of the miracles there is
a notable desire to discredit the virgin birth of our Lord, and their
treatment of this event presents a good example of the fallacies of
reasoning by means of which they would abolish many of the other
miracles."
Professor Reeve, in a strong article in Volume 3 of "Fundamentals"
(pages 98, 99) tells us of his own excursion into the fields of
higher criticism, of his disappointment and of his glad return to the
interpretations of the Bible that are generally accepted. Speaking of
his first impressions, he says:
"The critics seemed to have the logical things on their side. The
results at which they had arrived seemed inevitable. But upon closer
thinking, I saw that the whole movement, with its conclusion, was
the result of the adoption of the hypothesis of evolution."...
"It became more and more obvious to me that the great movement was
entirely intellectual, an attempt in reality to intellectualize all
religious phenomena. I saw also that it was a partial and one-sided
intellectualism, with a strong bias against the fundamental tenets
of Biblical Christianity. Such a movement does not produce that
intellectual humility which belongs to the Christian mind. On the
contrary, it is responsible for a vast amount of intellectual pride,
an aristocracy of intellect with all the snobbery which usually
accompanies that term. Do they not exactly correspond to Paul's
word, 'vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind and not holding fast the
head, etc.' They have a splendid scorn for all opinions which do not
agree with theirs. Under the spell of this sublime contempt they
think they can ignore anything that does not square with their
evolutionary hypothesis. The center of gravity of their thinking is
in the theoretical, not in the religious; in reason, not in faith.
Supremely satisfied with its self-constituted authority, the mind
thinks itself competent to criticize the Bible, the thinking of all
the centuries, and even Jesus Christ Himself. The followers of this
cult have their full share of the frailties of human nature. Rarely,
if ever, can a thoroughgoing critic be an evangelist or even
evangelistic; he is educational. How is it possible for a preacher
to be a power of God, whose source of authority is his own reason
and convictions? The Bible can scarcely contain more than good
advice for such a man."
In Volume 2 of "Fundamentals" (page 84), Sir Robert Anderson has this to
say:
"The effect of this 'Higher Criticism' is extremely grave. For it
has dethroned the Bible in the home, and the good old practice of
'family worship' is rapidly dying out. And great national interests
also are involved. For who can doubt that the prosperity and power
of the nations of the world are due to the influence of the Bible
upon the character and conduct? Races of men who for generations
have been taught to think for themselves in matters of the highest
moment will naturally excel in every sphere of effort or of
enterprise. And more than this, no one who is trained in the fear of
God will fail in his duty to his neighbour, but will prove himself a
good citizen. But the dethronement of the Bible leads practically
to the dethronement of God; and in Germany and America, and now in
England, the effects of this are declaring themselves in ways, and
to an extent, well fitted to cause anxiety for the future."
The experience of Rev. Paul Kanamori, known as the "Japanese Billy
Sunday" furnishes an excellent illustration of the chilling effect of
higher criticism. He was converted when a student and, after a period of
preaching, became a professor in a theological seminary in Japan. Dr.
Robert E. Speer, in a preface to a published sermon of Mr. Kanamori,
thus describes the great evangelist's temporary retirement from the
ministry and its cause:
"He began to read upon the most recent German theology, with
the result that he was completely swept off his feet by the
rationalistic New Theology, Higher Criticism, etc. Not long after
that he published his new views under the title, 'The present and
future of Christianity in Japan,' and retired from the ministry....
He remained in this state of spiritual darkness for twenty years,
until the death of his wife brought him and his children into great
trouble, but after passing through these deep waters he came out
again with a clear and firm belief in the old-fashioned gospel"
("The Three-Hour Sermon," page 8).
Since Mr. Kanamori's return to the ministry he has been the means of
leading nearly fifty thousand Japanese to Christ--probably more than the
total number of souls brought into the Church by all the higher critics
combined.
Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, one of the great preachers of the last
generation, thus speaks of the higher critics:
"When I see ministers of religion finding fault with the Scriptures,
it makes me think of a fortress terrifically bombarded, and the men
on the ramparts, instead of swabbing out and loading the guns and
helping to fetch up the ammunition from the magazine, are trying
with crowbars to pry out from the wall certain blocks of stone,
because they did not come from the right quarry. Oh, men on the
ramparts, better fight back and fight down the common enemy, instead
of trying to make breaches in the wall."
It is a deserved rebuke. The higher critics throw ink at a Book that
has withstood the assaults of materialists for centuries, and are vain
enough to think that they can blot out its vital truths. Although their
labours against the Bible have consumed years, they expect the public
to accept their conclusions at sight. If they require so much time to
formulate their indictment against Holy Writ, surely the friends of
the Bible should be allowed as much time for the inspection of the
indictment.
The destructive higher critic is, as a rule, opposed to revivals; in
fact, it is one of the tests by which he can be distinguished from other
preachers. He calls the revival a "religious spasm." He understands
how one can have a spasm of anger and become a murderer, or a spasm of
passion and ruin a life, or a spasm of dishonesty and rob a bank, but he
cannot understand how one can be convicted of sin, and, in a spasm of
repentance, be born again. That would be a miracle, and miracles are
inconsistent with evolution. It shocks the higher critic to have the
prodigal son come back so suddenly after going away so deliberately.
Most of the higher critics discard, because contrary to the doctrine of
evolution, the virgin birth of Jesus and His resurrection, although the
former is no more mysterious than our own birth--only different, and the
latter no more mysterious than the origin of life. The existence of God
makes both possible; and the proof is sufficient to establish both.
If the higher critic will but come into the presence of Christ and learn
of Him he will express himself in the language of the father (whose son
had a dumb spirit), who, as recorded in Mark (9:24), "cried out and said
with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
If he would only mingle with humanity he might catch the spirit of the
Master; if his sympathies were broad enough to take in all of God's
people, he would be so impressed with the religious needs of sinful man
that he would hasten to break to him the "Bread of Life" instead of
offering him a stone. The Bible, _as it is_, has led millions to
repentance and, through forgiveness, into life; the Bible, as the higher
critics would make it, is impotent to save.
Enemies of the Bible have been "blasting at the Rock of Ages" for nearly
two thousand years but in spite of attacks of open and secret foes, God
still lives, and His Book is still precious to His children.
The Bible would be the greatest book ever written if it rested on its
literary merits alone, stripped of the reverence that inspiration
commands; but it becomes infinitely more valuable when it is accepted
as the Word of God. As a man-made book it would compel the intellectual
admiration of the world; as the audible voice of the Heavenly Father it
makes an irresistible appeal to the heart and writes its truths upon our
lives. Its heroes teach us great lessons--they were giants when they
walked by faith, but weak as we ourselves when they relied upon their
own strength.
The Bible starts with a simple story of creation--just a few words, but
it says all that can be said. The scientists have framed hypotheses,
the philosophers have formulated theories and the speculators have
guessed--some of them have darkened "counsel by words without
knowledge"--but when the smoke of controversy rises we find that the
first sentence of Genesis, still unshaken, comprehends the entire
subject: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." No
one has been able to overthrow it, or burrow under it or go around it.
And so when we set out in search of a foundation for statute law; we dig
down through the loose dirt, the mould of centuries, until we strike
solid rock and we find the Tables of Stone on which were written the ten
commandments. All important legislation is but an elaboration of these
few, brief sentences, and the elaborations are often obscuring instead
of clarifying.
If we desire rules to govern our spiritual development we turn back to
the Sermon on the Mount. In our educational system it takes many books
on many subjects to prepare a mind for its work, but three chapters
of the Bible (Matthew 5, 6 and 7) applied to life, would have more
influence than all the learning of the schools in determining the
happiness of the individual and his service to society.
If we want to understand the evils of arbitrary power, we have only to
read Samuel's warning to the children of Israel when they clamoured for
a king (1 Sam. 8: 11, 17).
If we would form an estimate of the influence that faith can exert on
a human life, and, through it, upon a world, we follow the career of
Abraham, "the friend of God," and see how his trust in Jehovah was
rewarded. He founded a race, than which there has never been a greater,
and established the religion through which to-day hundreds of millions
worship God.
David showed us how a shepherd lad could become the "warrior king" and
the "sweet singer of Israel," with virtues so big that, in spite of his
enormous sins, he is described as "a man after God's own heart."
And what varied instruction we draw from the life of Moses! Hidden in
the bulrushes on the banks of the Nile by a mother who, by instinct or
by divine suggestion, previsioned a high calling for her son; found,
under Providential direction, by a daughter of Pharaoh; reared in the
environment of a palace and with the advantages of the most enlightened
court of his day; compelled to flee into the wilderness because of an
outburst of race passion; called to a great work by a Voice that
spoke to him from a bush that "burned but was not consumed"; modestly
distrusting his ability yet dauntless as the spokesman of God--dispenser
of plagues--wonder-working man! Born of an obscure family and buried in
the Land of Moab in a sepulcher which "no man knoweth," and yet between
these two humble events he rose to a higher pinnacle than any uninspired
man has ever reached--leader without comparison--lawgiver without a
peer.
He teaches many lessons that, like all truths, can be applied in every
generation in every land. Race sympathy made it possible for him to lead
his people out of bondage--no one not of their own blood could have
done it. This lesson needs to be heeded to-day. Our part in the
evangelization of the world will be done through native teachers,
educated here or in our missions, rather than directly. The reformer,
too, finds in the hardening of Pharaoh's heart the final assurance of
success; when the "fullness of time" has come and any form of bondage is
ripe for overthrow, the taskmaster's demand for "bricks without straw"
gives the final impulse and opens the way.
Joseph has made the world his schoolroom. He enables us to understand
the words of Solomon; "where there is no vision the people perish." He
shows how, in the hour of trial, faith can triumph over reason--how God
can lead a righteous man through a dungeon to a seat by the side of the
throne--how the dreamer can turn scoffing into reverence when he has the
corn.
Samuel is a standing rebuke to those who think "wild oats" a necessary
crop in the lives of young men. He heard the call of God when he was a
child; was reared for the Father's work and lived a life so blameless
that the people proclaimed him just when his official career came to an
end.
In the Proverbs of Solomon we find a rare collection of truths,
beautifully expressed; in Job we find an inexhaustible patience set to
music and an integrity that even Satan himself could not corrupt.
The Prophets alone would immortalize the Bible--rugged characters who
dared to rebuke wickedness in high places, to reproach a nation for its
sins and to warn of the coming of the wrath of God. See Elijah on Mount
Carmel, mocking the worshippers of Baal; hear him thunder the Almighty's
sentence against a king who, coveting Naboth's vineyard, broke three
commandments to get a little piece of land. And yet Elijah fled from
wicked Jezebel and would have despaired but for the Voice that assured
him of the thousands who were still true to Israel's God--the obscure
hosts who remained loyal even when the conspicuous became faint-hearted.
Elisha was a visible link in the chain of power. He was not ashamed to
wear the mantle of his great predecessor; he was willing to take up an
unfinished work. He bears unimpeachable testimony to the continuity of
the divine current when human conductors can be found to transmit it. It
was Elisha who drew aside the veil that concealed from his affrighted
servant the horses and chariots that, upon the mountain, await the hours
when they are needed to supplement the strength of those who fight upon
the Lord's side; it was Elisha, too, who proved to the warriors of his
day that magnanimity is more potent than violence. He conquered by
self-restraint--and "the bands of Syria came no more into the lands of
Israel."
Daniel is another man in whom faith begat courage and for whom courage
carved a large niche in the temple of imperishable fame. The Daniel who
interpreted to the trembling Belshazzar the fateful handwriting on
the wall; who, unawed by enemies, prayed with his windows open toward
Jerusalem, and who, in the lions' den, waited in patience until Darius
hastened from a sleepless couch to call him forth and join him in
praising Israel's God--this Daniel was the same intrepid servant of the
Most High, who in his youth refused to drink wine from the king's table,
and, demanding a test, proved that water was better--a verdict that
twenty-five centuries have not disturbed.
Passing over many characters who would seem mountainlike but for the
majestic peaks that overshadow them, let us turn to the immortal seer
who, listening heavenward, caught the words of the song that startled
the shepherds at Bethelehem and, peering through the darkness of seven
centuries, saw the light that shone from Calvary. It was Isaiah who
foretold more clearly and more fully than any one else the coming of
the Messiah, suggested the titles which He would earn, described the
sufferings which He would endure and enumerated the blessings He would
bring to mankind. In chapter nine verse six we read, "For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon
his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The
Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
In chapter fifty-three, we learn of His vicarious atonement:
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was
upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment:
and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of
the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he
stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich
in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth.
In chapter two, verse four, we are told of the glad day, which we are
now trying to hasten, when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares,
and spears into pruning-hooks--when nations shall not lift up the sword
against nations or learn war any more.
If the Old Testament is so fascinating what may we expect of the New? It
is day as compared with dawn; it is the morning light, with which Moses
and the Prophets beat back the darkness of the night, enlarged--until
we have the sun in its meridian glory. "Old things have passed away;
behold, all things are become new."
The Old Testament gave us the law; the New Testament reveals the love
upon which the law rests. John says: "The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1: 17). The Old Testament
restrained by a multitude of "Thou shalt nots"; the New Testament
awakens the monitor within and supplies a spiritual urge that makes the
individual find satisfaction in service and delight in doing good. David
soothes the dying with sweet assurance: "Though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with
me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me;" Jesus inspires them with a
living hope: "I go to prepare a place for you that where I am ye may be
also."
God is the center of gravity in the New Testament as in the Old, but the
drawing power of Jehovah became visible in Christ; the attributes of the
Father were revealed in the Son--the supreme intelligence, the limitless
power, the boundless love. Divinity surrounded itself with human
associates but spiritual enthusiasm crowded out the selfish element;
His presence purged their souls of dross. The characters of the New
Testament are about their Father's business all the time. If a Judas
is base enough to betray the Saviour, even he is so overwhelmed with
remorse that life becomes unbearable.