The new appreciation of the Bible : a study of the spiritual outcome of Biblical criticism

Front matter

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Class BS 51/ _ Book .3 42»

Copyright 1^"

Preface

The author's aim has been to prepare a manual that might be distinctly helpful to those who desire to appropriate the best results of modern biblical scholarship. He has had in mind the needs of pastors, teachers, young people's classes and societies in the churches, parents, and thoughtful persons generally who really want to know the truth, but who want also a justly constructive interpretation and application of the truth. He believes thoroughly that the new view of the Bible is far more vital than the old; that there is no valid cause for alarm lest the essentials of spiritual religion suffer shock, through the acceptance of this view, provided the people are adequately informed and wisely led ; but that, on the contrary, it may be made to promote a great enlightenment and enrichment of popular faith and devotion, if only those who are responsible for the instruction of the masses shall conscientiously do their duty. He holds, therefore, that the imperative need of the hour is intelligent, sympathetic, and frank explanation and guidance with reference to the manifold interests involved in this whole subject.

The religious use of the Bible must always be its principal use. The value it possesses for the linguist, the archaeologist, and the historian.

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great as this has been and will continue to be, can never equal the worth of its service to the spiritual life of mankind. People may read it for literary profit, and may study it for the sake of knowledge and culture; but all this will be as nothing beside the counsel, comfort, inspiration, correction, and direction which it will afford for moral conduct and religious trust. But this most important use of the Bible must he consonant with the truth about its nature; and the more vital its hold upon the hearts of men, the more powerful its influence in practical life, the more needful it must be that its real character should be clearly understood. Accordingly the common people, whoi are fed by the Bible and are exhorted to use it diligently in religious ways, are entitled to know, so far as possible, what the scholars have learned respecting its actual origin and history. To withhold such information will not only deprive them of an education to which they have a just claim, but will be sure to beget distrust and indifference.

Now a part of the work of furnishing this needed popular instruction is to be done by the biblical professor, but perhaps an equally important part is to be done by the enlightened pastor. He stands close to the ordinary people; he knows the state of their minds, he can sympathize with their perplexities and misgivings,

PREFACE IX

and therefore he can break the bread of truth to them according to their needs. Himself learning from the experts or the teachers in the universities, he can in turn teach the members of his congregation who look to him for leadership in spiritual things; and thus he may be the mediator of a new understanding between the Divine Spirit and those yearning souls that wait for illumination "more than they that watch for the morning."

The point of view here indicated is the one from which the present volume is offered. It will be seen, therefore, that the book is not intended for scholars, but is rather a modest attempt by a working pastor to popularize some of the results of scholarship. It seeks to give the general reader a clear and trustworthy account of the changed view of the Bible which is growing up in these days, and to show him that this view does not weaken the hold of the Scriptures upon our esteem, but instead truly strengthens it, while tending positively to spiritualize and vitalize our religion. Even more earnestly does it strive to set forth the great educational value of the Bible in our modern life, as it acts upon the heart of our civilization, and to point out the ways in which it may be most helpfully used, in its new aspects, in order to render its vast service of good to the individual and to society.

X PREFACE

Of course the author does not presume to speak for any particular scholar, except as indicated by quotation or reference. The facts herein set forth are such as he has gleaned in his professional study, and he alone is responsible for the form in which he has stated them ; but he trusts he has not misrepresented, in any essential respect, the position of modern learning in relation thereto. As to the convictions which he has expressed regarding the nature and workings of religion, most fully contained in the sixth, seventh, and eighth chapters of the first part, they are emphatically his own, although the influence of many teachers has combined with his own thought and experience to> produce them.

The writer fervently hopes that a sympathetic reading of these pages will yield the net result of a quickened apprehension of spiritual truth. Believing profoundly in the immanence of the Divine Spirit, of whose active presence in our human world the Bible is a great monument, he believes that a truer knowledge of the Bible must always make men more clearly aware of the reality and the immediateness of the spiritual forces that fill the universe, thereby bringing them into a deeper conscious harmony with That God which ever lives and loves, One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves.

Providence, R. I. W. C. S.

February i, 1906

PREFACE XI

POSTSCRIPT

The author's indebtedness to various writers is perhaps sufficiently indicated by the quotations and references in the text and the footnotes. But he desires especially to acknowledge his obligation to one of the professors in the University of Chicago, who, after reading the manuscript for the press, kindly submitted many sympathetic and helpful criticisms. The corrections and suggestions thus recommended have been substantially incorporated in the final revision of the work, much enhancing its value.

The book has been produced amid the multifarious duties of a double pastorate, involving the constant care of a city church and a suburban village church, not to speak of many other semi-public services. On the score of this fact some allowance may be made for the lack of literary finish and technical soundness which the critical reader will undoubtedly discover. It is hoped that such defects will not be so great as seriously to impair the practical usefulness of the volume.

w. c. s.

Introduction

The Bible in Modern Life i

Part I. The Meaning Of Biblical Criticism

I. The History of the Bible, Since the Completion OF THE Canons of the Two

Testaments 19

11. The Traditional View of the Bible ... 47

III. What is Biblical Criticism ? 68

IV. The New View OF THE Old Testament . . 95 V. The NeW View OF THE New Testament . . 120

VI. The Inspiration of the Bible . . . . 156

VII. The Divine Revelation in the Bible . . 180 VIII. The Moral and Religious Authority of

THE Bible 202

PART 11. THE VALUE AND USE OF THE BIBLE

IX. The New Appreciation of the Bible . . 227

X. The Bible and Spiritual Progress . . 247 XL The Service of the Bible to Our Own

Time 265

XII. How TO Read the Bible in Its Modern

Aspects 284

XIII. The Use and Abuse of the Bible in the

Sunday School 301

XIV. The Bible in the Public School . . .324 XV. The Bible in the Home 348

XVI. The Bible and Personal Culture . . . 364 XVII. The Bible and the Spread of Western

Civilization 380

INTRODUCTION THE BIBLE IN MODERN LIFE

INTRODUCTION

THE BIBLE IN MODERN LIFE

The place which the Bible already fills in modern life is so large and honorable as to entitle it to the profound respect of all intelligent people. The still larger place which it is both worthy and certain to occupy in the future development of our civilization renders exceedingly important a most thorough consideration of every vital question connected with its nature and influence. It is impossible to understand the history of this civilization without knowing how the teachings of the Bible have been wrought, like a beautiful pattern, into its very warp and woof. It is likewise impossible to think of this civilization extending itself among the nations, in the immediate future, without involving these same teachings. Therefore it is not merely in a narrow, personal way, as concerning the religious interests of the individual, but rather in a very broad way, as flowing with the whole stream of our western civilization, now spreading over the earth, that we are adequately to measure the significance of the Bible in modern life. A few considerations will enforce this truth.

I. Beginning with ourselves, we perceive at once that our private spiritual ideals, our ethical principles, our religious faith and devotion, and our hopes for the hereafter have been largely shaped by the ideas and influences emanating from this sacred volume. One may not claim that they have been produced thereby, for spiritual aspiration, the moral sense, and the religious sentiment are afforded by the nature of man, are instinctive and ineradicable; but it is a fact that they have taken form and direction, as they exist among us, from the molding hand which the Bible has laid upon our souls. For every man shares, consciously or unconsciously, in the heritage of the past. Now our entire western civilization, which is comparatively of recent origin, has grown up in the closest connection with those agencies and forces which the Bible has fostered and transmitted, so that our ancestors, for hundreds of years, as well as we ourselves, have been educated in its conceptions and spirit: consequently the impression which it has made upon our habits of thought and feeling, upon conduct and character, is as deep, vital, and permanent as that which is produced upon a race by climate or long-established national government. Thus the influence of the Bible is felt in our lives, both directly and indirectly, to a greater extent than the unreflecting are aware. When we think of it, however, we see that it would be about as difficult to free ourselves from its effectual sway as to take the texture out of a garment; and even if we possessed the desire and the ability to do this, it is quite as difficult to imagine what should or could be put in its place. No wonder we call the book sacred! for all our most sacred interests, whether drawn from the past or subsisting in the present or pertaining to the future, are bound up with its life-giving teachings. It is the light, the inspirer, and the comforter of our needy souls as nothing else on earth has ever been. Intelligently cherished, it is simply an inestimable means of spiritual grace and power, working silently, day by day, like the sunshine, to enrich and beautify our lives.

2. Similarly the Bible has entered into modern literature in penetrating and thorough ways. Hosts of the greatest writers of the last thousand years have fed upon the Bible as upon no other work. Innumerable are the allusions to it, the quotations from it, and the illustrations afforded by it in the literary productions of European and American authors.^ How futile, then, to expect to understand these authors with-

1 The late Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, shortly before his death, wrote touching this point as follows: "Wholly apart from its religious or from its ethical value, the Bible is the one book that no intelligent person who wishes to come into contact with the world of thought and to share the ideas of the great minds of the Christian era can afford to be ignorant of. All modern literature and all art are permeated with it. There is scarcely a great work in the language that can be fully understood and enjoyed without this knowledge, so full is it of allusions and illustrations from the Bible. This is true of fiction, of poetry, of economic and philosophic works, and also of the scientific and even out some familiarity with the Bible! In nearly all our best literary possessions originating in recent centuries the facts, thoughts, and lessons of the Bible are reflected here and there on every hand; and its general spirit is undoubtedly the most pervasive quality in the moral and intellectual atmosphere of our time. Hence, if we desire to interpret correctly the literary history of modern times, thus comprehending the inner workings of the human spirit lying behind our whole occidental civilization, we shall find it needful to put ourselves at the point of view occupied by so many writers through an enlightened appreciation of the Bible.

3. Again, consider how our institutional life recognizes and employs the Bible. Not only our churches with their assemblages and their ceremonies of worship, not only our marriage and funeral customs, but also most of our philanthropic agencies, many of our schools and colleges, and some of our civil laws and judicial proceedings have been fashioned and subserved, in no small degree, by these ancient Scriptures. It is not contended that such social institutions owe their existence primarily to the Bible, for they

agnostic treatises. It is not at all a question of religion, or theology, or of dogma; it is a question of general intelligence."

Emerson, too, wrote: "Shakespeare, the first literary genius of the world, the highest in whom the moral is not the predominating element, leans on the Bible; his poetry presupposes it. If we examine this brilliant influence — Shakespeare — as it lies in our mind, we shall find it reverent, not only of the letter of this book, but of the whole frame of society which stood in Europe upon it."

spring out of native instincts and tendencies, and there would be something like them even if there had never been any Bible; but the point is, that the Bible has had actually to do with their development, and so exerts its power through their far-reaching influence.

But the chief fact to be noted here is that the Bible is the specific and main instrument of all our distinctively religious institutions. What a striking phenomenon it is that every Christian church, every Young Men's or Young Women's Christian Association, and every Sunday school makes use of some portion of this book as the principal implement of spiritual culture! It is the sword of the Spirit wielded by the armies of the Lord — the one mighty weapon of offense and defense, to assail the works of ignorance and sin, and to keep every warrior's heart incorruptible and undefiled. It is the one great textbook of righteousness and holy love used throughout our western world for the education of old and young in the highest and most vital things in human life. No other tool ever had such honor, or wrought upon so gigantic a task, or accomplished such wonderful results. It is unique and marvelous as an instrumentality for the maintenance of all that is best in our modern civilization.

4. Furthermore, it must be observed that the Bible is now being rapidly distributed over the earth. The vast missionary enterprises of the various churches, springing up in the nineteenth century, have been inaugurated in nearly all lands, among hundreds O'f millions of people who, a short time ago, knew nothing of Judaism and Christianity. Invariably the Bible has accompanied these enterprises, without which they had never been undertaken, and by virtue of which they have constantly subsisted. As a consequence of this Christian expansion, aided by the growth of learning and by other important factors, the Scriptures have now attained a circulation among the races and languages of the globe far surpassing that of any other collection of writings. Last year, for instance, the circulation of the American Bible Society alone amounted to 1,723,791 copies, and during the eighty-six years of its organization amounted to 70,677,225 ; while the British and Foreign Bible Society reported a circulation last year of 5,067,421 copies, and a total since the foundation of the society of 175,038,965. There are other societies engaged in distributing the Bible, but I am unable to give their figures; and while it is impossible to make any accurate estimate of the total circulation throughout the world, a trustworthy authority says it would probably reach 500,000,000. This means that the Bible has been translated into many languages and dialects — over 300 — and that the demand for it is steadily increasing. Surely, if the Bible conveys to mankind a knowledge of God, it is not difficult to believe in the ultimate fulfilment of the old Hebrew prophecy — ''the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."^

Seeing thus the remarkable place Avhich the Bible occupies in modern life, and which it is destined to enlarge, the highest significance at once attaches to the fact that the general view of the Bible hitherto prevailing is undergoing a great change in these days. The recent vast expansion of learning, and the many searching corrections effected by it, constitute one of the most notable achievements of our civilization. Few subjects have been affected by the twofold process more thoroughly and helpfully than the Bible. Light from various quarters has been thrown upon its pages, researches in the ancient lands connected with its origin have been made, and studies in the historic circumstances attending its production and transmission have been patiently prosecuted, all contributing to render the Bible a much richer book for us than it could possibly have been for our forefathers. But it is also a different book, in the sense of bearing a dift'erent nature. It is no longer regarded in so narrow and mechanical a way as formerly; it is less a mysterious oracle, and more a living

' Isa. xi. 9.

lO NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE

voice; and if we use it less as a talisman or shibboleth, we feel it more as a throbbing energy in the struggling life of our time. We do not think of it as having been written by the Almighty, or by angels, or by infallible human amanuenses; but rather as having grown out of the personal and national experiences of a people who were wonderfully fitted by racial endowment and by a long, peculiar discipline to feel and express profound moral and religious truths. The steps by which it came into existence can be traced to a great extent, the stages of its development can be marked off with approximate accuracy; and we see that whatever divine element is involved in its creation is just such as we ourselves may know something about in our purest spiritual consciousness — the presence and power of the spirit of God working in and through the spirit of man ^'both to will and to doi O'f his good pleasure." So the marvelous in the sense of the miraculous diminishes, and the marvelous in the sense of the natural increases.

This fundamental change In our general conception of the Bible will be elucidated and amplified. Here let me simply remark that the facts and truths involved in it are embraced in what is called the science of historical and literary criticism, and more particularly in the branch of this science known as biblical criti-

INTRODUCTION ii

cism. This new science, which is giving us largely a new Bible, is creating a new interest among intelligent people in the study of the precious volume; and I venture to hope that we are on the eve of a better and more diligent use of these sacred writings for vital purposes than has yet prevailed. To those who have eyes to see the trend of spiritual events, the inevitable improvement that must ensue from such enlightening and vivifying influences is indeed a gladdening vision. Therefore they welcome this modern science of biblical criticism as a radiant, beautiful benefactress, like so many of her predecessors in the sisterhood of sciences, and rejoice to receive her blessing.

We are bound, however, to recognize the prevalence of a contrary judgment. There are those who are hostile to this science, deeming it a source of great evil. They hold it responsible for disturbing the faith of earnest Christians, for undermining the foundations of religious institutions, for depleting the churches, and for setting people adrift upon a sea of uncertainty, skepticism, and secularism. Nor can we deny that there is some truth in these allegations. Every great change in religious thought produces, inevitably, important personal and social consequences. To alter men's ruling ideas about the Bible, or the Church, or Jesus Christ, or God, or human destiny must affect their practical attitude toward all Christian interests. And undoubtedly the manifold changes now occurring in popular thought are having a considerable influence upon the conduct of large numbers of men and women with reference to public worship, the observance of Sunday, the reading of the Scriptures, and religious matters in general.

But it is a mistake to suppose that these changes are due solely or chiefly to biblical criticism; that is only one of the causes. They belong to the whole intellectual and spiritual movement of the age; all the other sciences have contributed to them; the general progress of civilization lies behind them and is implicated in them. It is likewise a mistake to suppose that their influence is, on the whole, baneful. It is no more so than that of all knowledge, freedom, and growth. There are incidental losses in every form of human advancement — from childhood to manhood, from dependence to self-reliance, from simplicity to complexity of social life; but these are more than offset by the gains which a natural development yields. If the world is now learning that some of its former conceptions of divine processes have been partially false because imperfect and narrow, and is therefore rectifying them, there will be, indeed, some evil results; but these will be more than counterbalanced by the immense benefits which must eventually issue. At any rate, the process is going on, we cannot stop it, and we must prepare to accept the consequences, whatever they may be. It is pleasant to be able to believe that, in the main, they are sure to be good.

There is another serious aspect of this subject. The friends of Christianity who are mistakenly opposing biblical criticism are certain to alienate many thinking persons from the churches. This has been done already to a sad extent. There is good reason to believe that many bright young people, educated in our institutions of learning, are turning away from the churches today because of their intellectual inhospitality. Instead of finding them leaders of thought, they find them, too often, reluctant followers. Instead of seeing them expecting more light to break forth, more truth to be discovered, they behold them clinging to a revelation that is finished. Instead of being encouraged by them, as they are encouraged at college, to think, to examine, to investigate, and to explore with perfect fearlessness, and to welcome the established conclusions of scientific study, they are frequently warned against all this, and they hear unfavorable judgments pronounced upon the work of some of the world's greatest scholars. Thus, instead of being fellow-helpers to the truth, the churches often become a hindrance to its attainment. Manifestly this is very unfortunate; and the churches are the principal sufferers. For no worse calamity could befall the Christian churches in our day than to lose the support of the thinking classes. And they will lose it, more or less, if this policy be continued. The hope that it will not be continued lies in the fact that, as a rule, highly educated men are increasingly demanded for the Christian ministry. Let the demand be insisted upon, and let the ministers, after they get into their pulpits, have as much confidence in the Spirit of Truth as they had while in the university. The Master promised that that Spirit should lead his disciples into all truth. Let them follow such a divine leadership, encourage their hearers to do likewise, prepare them to look for fresh disclosures of God's secrets, and honor all who in any way are seeking to discover them. So shall they help to make the Christian Church the staunch ally of all sound learning, and thereby save to her service the lovers of truth and progress.

I believe, then, that the gravest danger to be feared from biblical criticism today is, not that the acceptance of its teachings will undermine the faith of devout souls, but that the rejection of its well-established results, together with an attitude of unfriendliness toward all its work, v/ill do the Christian Church incalculable harm through the alienation of vast numbers of thoughtful, inquiring people. So believing, I desire, as a reverent and glad disciple of Jesus Christ, to do what I can to avert this danger from the great institution which serves the world in his name. Accordingly, with such ability as is at my disposal, I have undertaken a candid discussion of the matters here broached, in the firm conviction that the facts and truths which the scholars have brought to light, not only do not invalidate the most spiritual faith in the Bible and in Jesus Christ, but on the contrary greatly enhance such a faith. By showing how this is true, comprehensively and yet with some detail, and by such a course alone, can "the present distress" which Professor McFadyen ^ depicts be adequately relieved; only so can the churches again be duly enriched by the fruits of the new learning, and become thoroughly equipped for the stupendous tasks of a new age; and only so can we expect our historic religion to have its full share in the supreme work of spiritualizing our modern civilization.

3 See John Edgar McFadyen, Old Testament Criticism and the Christian Church (Scribner, 1903), chap. i.

PART I

THE MEANING OF BIBLICAL CRITICISM

Chapter I The History Of The Bible

In the present chapter a sketch is to be given of the history of the Bible. There is required at least an outline of the story of its preservation, transmission, and diffusion since the various writings composing it were collected, selected, and recognized as authoritative and sacred. The long process of thus gathering and establishing them, technically known as the formation of the Canon, constitutes a separate theme — preliminary, indeed, and of the greatest interest — but needing to be treated by itself. For the simple purpose, however, of tracing the principal steps by which we have come into possession of the English Bible of our own day, it is necessary to cover only the last fifteen or sixteen centuries. Accordingly, for convenience, let us go back to that important way-mark in Christian history, 325 a. d.^ which was signalized by the adoption of the Nicene Creed; and from this point of departure, looking before and after, we may see the main facts which we need to notice.

Back of the date here mentioned there lay nearly three hundred years of remarkable Christian activity following the death of Jesus, during which the gospel had spread abroad through the greater portion of the civilized world, and at length had won recognition and acceptance by imperial Rome in the person of Constantine the Great, who had just come to the throne of the Caesars. The nev/ religion had produced a fresh, strong literature, the best parts of which had been sifted out, gathered together, used and appealed to, in worship and teaching, by the general consensus of Christian opinion. This development had been slow and natural, and was not yet complete; in fact the final determination of the New Testament Canon, by ecclesiastical decree, did not occur until 495 a. d.^ Yet, at the time we are considering, the chief O'f these select writings were already most highly esteemed, being regarded as very precious and practically of equal rank with the Old Testament. These last-named scriptures were produced within the fifteen centuries of Israelitish history which lay still farther back, before the time of Christ — indeed, the bulk of them within the second half of that period. They, likewise, had been sifted out and brought together — first, and gradually, into three distinct collections, and finally into a single collection; and toward the close of the period they had been translated into Greek for the use of Greek-speaking Jews, of whom there

1 Professor Edward C. Moore, in a lecture. See especially his volume, The New Testament in the Christian Church (Macmillan, 1904), pp. 32, 33, 160-163. Very valuable.

were many at Alexandria and the other leading cities of the Graeco-Roman world.

Some of these sacred writings — possibly of both Testaments, and certainly of the Old — existed upon prepared skins, but most of them upon papyrus, a material introduced among the Greeks from the Egyptians several centuries previously. It consisted of sheets made from the papyrus plant, a species of bulrush found along the river Nile and also in Syria. The interior or pith of the stalk, after removing the rind, was cut into thin strips, which were laid lengthwise, side by side, and crosswise on top, and then while damp were pressed together, being rubbed even and smooth by some hard substance like bone or ivory. Upon that crude kind of "paper" (derived from this very word "papyrus") those precious words of religious thought and faith were inscribed with a sort of pen called a stylus, made from a reed. Obviously copies of the Scriptures, in whole or in part, must have been made quite frequently, in order both to preserve them and to circulate them among the churches.