The story of the Bible from the standpoint of modern scholarship

Front matter

SHELDON

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Prefatory Note

The author trusts it will be clearly understood that these lectures are intended rather for those who do not know very much about the Bible but would like to know more. For this reason the pages have not been encumbered with references to authorities or with lists of books which would only tire the reader. It is not as if the writer were contending for some peculiar theory of his own. Those who wish to make further study of the subject can get such lists from the same sources as those which have been open to the author. The material presented here is meant only as an introduction to what has been an unexplored field for many otherwise well educated people. The lectures were first given under the auspices of the Ethical Society in St. Louis and were inaugurated with fear and trepidation lest they should prove of little interest. To the lecturer’s surprise, the attendance was unusually large. Men from commercial and professional life came in numbers, with a singular curiosity to find what the Bible was about or what had been discovered with regard to it by modern scholarship. Under these circumstances it seemed fitting to let the lectures go forth in volume-form, appearing just as they were given, as lectures — addressed to those who wish to learn something more about the Bible.

W. L. Sheldon.

St. Louis, Mo., 1899.

Introduction

It was with great pleasure that I consented to examine the late Mr. Sheldon’s little book with a view of suggesting such changes as may have been called for by the progress in Biblical scholarship since its appearance about ten years ago.

I found that only a few changes were necessary. Mr. Sheldon was an unusually careful student, and thanks to the discriminating judgment embodied in his presentation of the subject, only such results as at the time he wrote could fairly be regarded as definite were set forth. The work may, therefore, still be recommended as a safe guide to those who wish to obtain a general idea of the attitude taken by modern scholarship towards the books of the Bible.

This remark applies not only to the books of the Old Testament, the study of which falls within my field, but to the chapters on the New Testament as well ; and in order to be sure of my ground in regard to the latter, I have asked my friend and colleague, Professor J. A. Montgomery, to examine these chapters, and suggest whatever changes seemed to him to be called for. In order that Mr. Sheldon’s exposition of the subject should stand as a memorial to him, the lamented scholar and teacher whose early demise is so seriously felt, the changes have been embodied in a series of foot-notes in all but such comparatively minor matters, as dates and names, in which the needed alterations have been embodied in the text itself.

The book is eminently deserving of a second edition and is especially to be commended for the sympathetic treatment of the subject and for the fine ethical spirit which breathes through its pages. Mr. Sheldon’s work shows that the Bible loses none of its power, beauty or impressiveness and therefore none of its real value because of the new point of view from which it is now regarded and that it gains in clearness by the discarding of traditional and conventional views which cannot stand the test of criticism.

The real Bible has nothing to fear but everything to gain from a critical study in the full light of historical, archaeological and philological investigation. The stories in Genesis retain their ethical and religious value when viewed as remnants of myths and folk-lore, because it is the peculiar spirit — the spirit of ethical idealism — put into these tales under the influence of the prophets’ view of life and of the universe that has given to Genesis its distinctive place. The view that the entire universe is the emanation of a single power transcending the grasp of human intellect is not affected by the reflection that the order of creation and many of the details in the narrative reflect primitive fancies and crude speculations based largely on popular myths. The story of the Flood viewed as an elaboration of an ancient nature myth has no ethical or religious value, but the conception of the catastrophe, not as a caprice of the gods, but as a punishment for corruption and wrong-doing, embodies a point of view that is as important for our days as for any other period in the world’s history. Noah pictured as a righteous man and therefore singled out for divine grace is an impressive figure even though presented to us in a framework of myth and folk-lore. The patriarchs with the curious mixture in the tales concerning them of national traditions, tribal legends, petty political rivalries and even tribal scandals, yet stand out as types that can be used under certain limitations for illustrations of the play of ethics in human conduct, while Moses — the most commanding figure in the Old Testament — is a veritable source of ethical and relig* ious inspiration because of the light in which his life is viewed.

There are to be sure other sides to the Bible besides the ethical and religious phases and these too are skillfully touched upon by Mr. Sheldon. The study of the Pentateuchal Codes is of the utmost interest to the student of customs and rites ; and this study has been made possible through the recognition of the various strata to be found in the groups of laws. Similarly, the historical narratives can only be properly understood if we separate them, as modern scholarship has done, into their various sources and within these sources distinguish between facts and legendary — and in part mythical — accretions on the one side, and between the narrative itself and the interpretation put upon events by the later compilers in the endeavor to make the narrative illustrative of certain conceptions of the past, or of religious theories that had in part at best already become traditional when the final shape was given to the historical books of the Old Testament.

The flower of the ethical and religious thought appears in the Prophets, and Mr. Sheldon has set forth this phase of the subject is so succinct and impressive a manner that no words need be wasted here to emphasize the commanding position assigned in the domain of religious history to the great teachers of Israel.

Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and Ruth, covering a wide range of literary activity require perhaps even more than the other books of the Bible an acquaintance with the modern critical point of view in order to become intelligible to the lay public. Unless viewed in relationship to the times when they were produced and interpreted with an endeavor to understand what is in them, instead of reading certain doctrines and views into them, they lose their distinctive plan. It is through these more distinctive literary productions that we can penetrate into the real meaning of Hebrew history and of the religion and religious philosophy as developed in the course of centuries in Palestine. The broad and sympathetic spirit of the author manifests itself also in his treatment of the transition period which led to the birth of Christianity. In accordance with the trend of modern criticism he traces the origin of the movement to the Prophets of the eighth and seventh centuries whose efforts were destined to lead to an increasing emphasis on the universalistic elements inherent in a faith resting on a monotheistic conception of the universe.

Certain changes were required in the chapter on “The New Testament” in order to adapt it to the present stage of new testament studies, but they do not affect the essential features in Mr. Sheldon’s clear succinct presentation of the growth of the New Testament literature. The closing chapter on “The Bible as Poetry and Literature” has a special interest as an illustration of the rare gifts of the late author himself which enabled him to penetrate beneath the surface to the very core of those perpetual truths of human conduct and of faith in unseen purposes that find their illustration in the Bible as in no other production of ancient or modern times.

Morris Jastrow, Jr.

Philadelphia, Pa.

I wish to acknowledge my great indebtedness to Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., of the University of Pennsylvania, not only for his kind introduction to this second edition of my husband’s “Story of the Bible,” but also for revising the Old Testament part, and to Professor James A. Montgomery, of the Episcopal Divinity School of Philadelphia, for kindly revising the New Testament portion.

Anna H. Sheldon.

St. Louis, Mo.