The Fundamentals: Volume 4, Chapter 3: The Bible and Modern Criticism

8/20/2019 The Fundamentals: Volume 4, Chapter 3: The Bible and Modern Criticism

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C~IAPTE ,R III

THE , BIBL E AND MODERN CRITICISM

--

BY F. BE~fTEX, D. D.,

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PROFESSOR EMERITU

1

S, STUTTGART, GERMANY

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINA .L GERMAN

:BY DAVID HEAGLE} D. D.

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It is

undeniable

·that tl1e univ,ers

1

e, .including ourselves,

exists.

Whence comes it

all? For

any clear-thi ·nking,

,mind

th

1

ere are

only

three possibilities. Either th ,e univ

1

e·rs

1

e

has

existed alway .,

it

produced

it,self,

or

it

was created

by

a

Divii:ie a S,t1preme Being.

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THE UNIVER :SE NOT ETERNAL

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The eternity o,f the universe is

1nost

clearly disproved by

its

evol.ution ..

F,rom a scientific

point

1

0£

view

that h.ypothesis

is no

1

w

discredite ,d and virtua lly abandoned.

Astronomers,

physicists, biologists,

phi losoph ,ers,

are beginning to r

1

ecogniz,e

tno,re

an

1

d mo

1

re, an.d men like Secchi,

D·ubois-

Reymond,

Lo rd

l


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7

the

heaven of heaven .s? In like manner, reasons

that

great

astronomer, William H erschel, with regard to the Milky-Way,

that ju st

as

its

breaki11g

up

1

into

different

parts shows that

it

cannot

alwa,y,s,

endure, so we hav,e,, in this siame fact,

proof tl1at

· it has not

eternally

existed.

G0

1

D THE AUTHOR ,QF ALL THINGS

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The1·e rem.a1ns,

therefore,

o·nly

this alternative: either the

world produced itself,

or

it was created. That all thing s came

•

i,nto

existence

spontane .ously, and

therefore th a t

we 1nust

uppose an origination of

immeasurably

great

effects . with ...

out any cause, or believe that at some: tim,e.a ·nothing, . wi·thout

either willing or knowing it, and without the use of , means,

became a something this is the mo,st unreaso ,nable assumption

that could possibly be attributed to a

l1uman

being. How

could

anything

ac·t bef

1

ore ·

it

existed? or a thi ·ng not

ye·t

cr·eated

produce something

?

Th~re is nothing more unreas

1

onable

than

the creed

of

the

unb,eliever,

notwithstanding all

his

prat~

ing

about the excellence

0

1

f

rea son. ·

B.ut if this wo1·lddid· no,t

produce itself,

then

it-

must have

•

. been created by some

I-Iighe1·

Power, some Ca,use of all causes,

•

such as

was that First P rinciple upon whicl1

the

dying Cicero

called. Or, to use the

word s

of

Dr. Klein,

that originating

cause m,ust have · been a Suprem

1

e I11telligence th a·t has at its

command unlimited

creative

power Kosmologische Briefe,

p. 27)

1

;

Hence

w·hat

that

Inte ,Jligence

does is

both illimitable

and

unfathomable,

and

it

can

at·

any time either change this

world or n1ake a new one. It is

there£

ore prima facie silly

for

us,

with

our

prodigiously

narrow

experience, to

set

any

kind of ·

bounds

to

the

Supreme Being;

and

a God who works

no miracles and is the slave of his own laws implanted ~D

· nature, such a God as the New Theology p

1

reaches, is as

much

lacking in being a true Divinity as is the unconsc~ous, but

all-wise cosmic ether of Spiller, or the ·eternal stuff of

ether

1naterialis.ts . · · .

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The Bible aiid M od,ef n Criticism

7

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C We concli1de, then, that the universe was created,. or that

God is the a11thor of all tl1,ings. .

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REVELATI0

N IN NATURE

•

But

now

the question

ari ses whetl1er

God,

who

is both. the

Creator of all things and the Father of spirits, has revealed

li imself

to his

creatures, or to

I..Jis

own children, the

wor.k

of His l1ands. Such a question

might

surely

provoke

one s

laughter.

For what

is the ent: :-e

universe?

what

is

this created

na:ture of which we form a part? what is air? and water?

and fire?

what

are all organized beings,

tny

body with

its

ltlany parts put together in such a highly artistic and inscruta

ble fashion; my soul with its infinite capabilities so little

llnderstood

by myself ? Wl1at

are ·all these matters but a

Progressive revelation of God, given to us, as it were, in a

series of concentric circ]es rising one above another

toward

thei1oSource? Fo,r this purpose it was that God created the ·

visible,so,

that through it

we might perceive the invisible,

and

~or

tl1is

purpose

the whole creation was

made,

so

that

through

it might be tnanif

ested the

invisible things of

God,

even .

his

ttemal

power

and godhead (Rom.

1 :20).

Creation

is

orily

the

language

of

the

Word that was in the beginning, and

Was with God, and was God, and by Whom all things wer

tnade (John 1 :1-3). What does this

Word

declare? at

,Ise

but

the

great infinite name of God

the

Father, the

primal

source of all things, the name that must be hallowed ? There

Wasa time, however, even before the world was, w·hea ther e

t,cisted nothing but God

and

l1is name.

All the

different

works ·

of

creation are only

letters

in

tl1is

great

name. .

REVELATION IN THE BIBLE

•

But

there is

another revelation which

God

has given

of

liimself to men a more definite and persollal

one. · Thus,

t.

g.,

he cleclared Himse lf to Adam, and

through

Enoch

and

Noah

to

the antediluvians,

and

again after

the

flood to other

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76

The Fundarnentals

ge:nerations , thro ,ugh Noah and his ,sons. But becau,se at the

building of

the

tower of Babel men turned stubbornly away

f1·01n

God, He

gave

them

up to

the

th ,oughts

o,f

their

owD

heart, and selected ,one man, Ab,raham, t,o go out from h'iS

f ri,ends and kind1·ed, so that in his seed all the nations of the

,vor]d might be blessed. Then, first, out of Abr ,aham cam,e the

p

1

eople of Israel, 'to, Who,m w

1

ere ·committe ,d the oracl 1es of

God; and from tl1is period began the history of

the

written

Word. Moses narrates the beginning of things, also

records

the laW, and

holy

men of God speak and write

as .

they

are

moved by the Holy Spirit. That is inspiration-a ,divine

in breathing. ·

But her

1

e a distinctio11

n1,ust

be mad ,e. Th ,e

Bi'ble, reports

matters of history,

and

in doing,

so

includes many genealogies

vl1ich ,vere composed, first ,of

all,

not for

us, but ior

those

•

1nost

immediately concerne ,d,

an,d

for

the angels

1

(

1 C'o,r. 4 :9),,

Also

it

reports

many

sins and shameful deeds;

for

just

as

th,e su:ri

fi.r,s,t

illuminates

h,imself

,and

then

sheds

his

radiance

u,pon the ocean and 'tl1e p·uddl

1

e,, the eagle , and the worm, s,o

the Bible undertakes to represent to us

not

only God, but

also ·man just

a,s l1e

is. In

giving

us these narratives

it may

be

said, moreover, ·that

God,

wl10

numbers

the

v,ery, hairs of

our hea ·d, exercised

a

providential

control, so that

what was

reported

by

His cho~en

men should be the

real

facts,

and

nothing else. T ·o what extent He in ,spired those , men with

the very W0

1

rds used by

them,

it is not for US

to

know, but

.

p1·obably more fully than we

suspect.

But

when God, , after

having communicated the law · to

Moses

o,n

Mount

Sinai and in the Tabernacle, communes

with

· him as a friend with friend, ,and Moses : writes , ''all 'the \\ ord9

of this law in a book'' (Deut. 28 :58; ·31 :24), then

Moses

really becomes the pen of God. When God speaks to

tl1e

,pnophets, ''Behold, I put my wo,rds in thy mouth,,' ,and ''aJl

•

the words that, 'hou heare ,st thou shalt say to

this pe,op'le,'t tl~erl

these

prophets

become the

very

mo

1

uth of God.

When Christ

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The ible a id Modern Criticism

77

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appears to John on P 'atmos, and says, ''To the angel o,f

the

church w·rite these · ·things,',

this

is an instanc

1

e of

verbal

dictat·ion. · ·

But

just

here we are

amused at those

weak-minded critic s

•

Who, with

hackneyed phrases, talk so

glibly about ''mecl1a11

. -

teal

ins.truments''

and

''mere verbal dictation.'' Does then a

Self-revelatio11

o,f

th

1

e Almighty

and a m.akin.g known of

His

counsels,

a

gracious

act

which

exalts the

human

agent

t,)

be a c

1

0-worker

with .Jehovah,

annihilate personal

freedom?

Or

does it

not

rather

enlarge that freedom,

and 1ift it

up to

a

higher and more joyous

activity

? Am I

then

a ''mechanical

instrument'' whert

with deep devotion

and .

with

enthus .iasm

l repeat after Christ, word for word, the prayer Which He

taught his disciples? The Bible is, con sequently, a book which

originated

according to the

will and

with the

co-operation of

God; and as such

it

is

our

guide to

eternity,

conducting

man ,

seemingly

without

a plan

and

yet

with

absolute ·certainty,

all

the way

from

the first

creation

and f roin Paradise ·

on

tO

the .

second

or

higher

creation

and

to

the New Jerusalem

(Comp.

Gen.

2 :8-10 with Rev.

21 :

1,

2). · · ·

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How does th.e Bible prove

itself

to be a

divinely

inspi1·ed,

heaven-given book, a communication from a Fatl1er to I-IiS

childre ·n, and thus a revela.ti

1

on ?

First, by

the

fact that,

as

does no other

sacred book ii~

the

world, it

condem ·ns

ma·n and all his, w

1

orks~ It doe.s not

pra ·ise eitl1er

his ,

wisdo1n,

his

reas .on,

his art,

or

any progres s

tha.t he has made;

b,ut

i·t

represents him as being

in the

sight

of

God,

a miserable sinner,

incapable

of doing anything good,

and

deserving

onJy death

and

endless

perditio11.

Truly,

a

boo'k which is able thus to ·speak,

and

in con.sequenc.e causes

llli)lions of men,

troubled

in conscience, to prostrate

them-

]

. h d ..

1

"'God b .f l . "'

e

ves

1n t .

e ust ·, crying, ·

I

e

merct

u

t

1

0 n1e a s1nnc1.

·must

contait1 more

than

n1ere

ordinary

trt1th .

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The undamentals

Secon


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The

Bible and Modern C1

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Babylon,, Ni ,neveh and Men1phis. Who in these times woul ,d

believe a like prophecy res,pecting London, Paris, or

New

Yorl


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80

The undanientals

MODERN

C,RITICI .SM

AND ITS RATIONA .LISTiI€

METH:UD

•

In

these

times there

has

appeared a criticism

which,

c

1

on-

•

stantly ,growing bolder in its

attacks

upon this sacred

book,

•

n.ow decrees, w,i'th all

S

elf-as ,suran .c

1

e

a11d

confidenc,e, th,at

it

is. simply a

human production.

Beside~ other

faults

found,

with

it,

it is declared to

be full

of errors,

many

of

its

books

to be spurious, writt .en ·by unknown 1nen at late·r· dates tl1aP

tho se assigned, etc.,. etc. But we asl{, upon what fundamental

principl

1

e,

what

axiom, is this verdict of

the critics

based?

It is ·upon the id

1

ea that, as Renan exp,r·essed it, reason is

capable of judging all things, but is. itself judged by notl1ing

That is

surely

.a proud dictum, but an empty one if its char-

a,cter is really· n

1

otice ·d. T

1

0

be su·re,

G

1

od has given r

1

easoh

·to

man, so that ·, in l1is

cu,sto1nary way

of

planting .a·nd

building,

buying

and

selling,

l1e

may

make a

pra .ctical

use of

created

•

nature by which he,

is, su·r1-0

unded. But is reason,

even

as

respect ls matters

of

this life,, in accord with

itself?

By no

means. For,

if

that were so, whence comes, all the strife and

contention of men at home and ·

abroad,

in

their places

of

business and , their pu.blic asse1nblies, in .art and science, in

legislation, religion and philosophy

? Does

it not a'll proceed

from

th

1

e

co

nflicts

of

reason

?

The

e11tire history oi'

ou,,

ra.ce

is the history of

milli

1

ons

of

n1en gifted with reason

who hav~

been in perpetual conflict one wi·th another. Is it with such

reason,

th

1

en, ·that

senten ,ce·

is t·o b

1

e pr

1

onou

1

nced

upon a divin,ely

given book? A pure1y rational revelation would certainly be

a contradiction of terms; besides, it would be

wholly

super ...

fluou.s.

But

-Whe11

reaso

1

n

undertakes to speak

of.

th·i·ngs

entirely supe1·naturaJ, invisible and ete1·nal, it talks as a bli,nd

man does about colors,

discoursing

of matters concerning

which it neithe ·r knows , nor , can l


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The

Bible

and M ode1

1

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81

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INCOMP

1

ETENCY OF REASON F

1

0R SPIRITUAL TRUTH

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Reason

aJone

has

never inspired

men

with

great

sublime

conceptions

of spiritual truth, whether

in

the

way

of

discovery

or

invention;

but usually

it

has at first

rejected and

ridiculed

such matters. And

just

so it is with these. rationaJistic critics,

they have no appreciation or understanding of the high and

sttblime

in God s Word.

They understand

neither

the maj

esty of Isaiah,

the pathos

of

David .s repentance, the

aud.acity

of Moses prayers, the philosophic depth of Ecclesiastes, nor

the wisdom of Solomon which uttereth her voice jn the

stre

1

ets. According to them ambitious priests, at a later date

than is commonly assigned,

compi1ed all those books

fro which

we l1ave al luded; also the·y wrote the Sinai ·tic law, and in- ·

vented tl1e whol .e story o·f Moses life. ( A magnificent fic

tion

·SO

1

one of·

the critics

calls,

that

s·to·ry.)

But

if

all

this

is so, then we must believe that cunning falsifiers, who were,

however,

so

the

critics

say,

devo1,1t

men, genuine products of

tl1eir

1

day (,alt.h,ough

it calls

for

notice th.at

the age in which

those devout men Jived, should, as was

done

to Christ, have

•

persecuted and killed them, when usually an ·,age loves its

own children); that

is

to say,

we must

believe

not

only

that

•

shallo ,w-minded m.en have· uncovered for us

eterna l

·truths

and th~ most

distant

future, but a1so that

vulgar,

interested

•

liars, ]1ave declared to us the inexorable righteousness 0£ a

holy

God Of course, all

that

is nonsense ;

no

one can

be-

liev1 it.. ·

But if

these critics disco11rse,

as

sometimes they do, with

great self-assurance upon topics such as the history of Israel,

the peculiar work of the prophets, revelation, inspiration,

the es,sence

1

of Christianity, the difference betw

1

een the teach

ings of Christ and those of Paul, anyone who intelligently

reads

what they say

is

impressed with the idea

that,

although

they display much ingenuity in

their

efforts,

after

all

they do

not

really

ur.tderstand the

matters concerning

whicn

th

1

E y

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82

The undamentals

speak. In like manner they talk with much ingenuity and

show of learning about men with whom they have only a

far-off acquaintance; and they discuss events in the realm of

the Spirit where they have had no per sonal experience. Thus

. hey both illustrate and prove the truth of the Scripture

teaching that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the

Spirit of God." . These critics say that God, not being a man,

cannot speak; consequently there is no word of God Also,

God cannot manifest Himself in visible form; therefore all

the accounts of such epiphanies are mythical tales Inspira

tion, they tell us, is unthinkable ; hence all representations of

such acts are diseased imagination t Of ·prophecy there is

none; what purports to be such ·was w~itten after the events

Miracles are impossible; there£ ore all the reports of them, as

given in the Bible, are mere fictions Men always seek, thus

it is explained, their own advantage and personal glory, an


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The Bible and lvlodern Criticis1n

83 ·

heretics, such as Arius (317 A. D.), who ·denied the .divinity

of Christ, and Pelagius in the fifth century, who reje cted

the doctrine of original sin. Indeed this exceedin gly new

theology adopts even the unbelief of those old Sadducees ·who

said "ther e is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit" (Act s

23 :8), and whom Christ reproved with the words, "Ye do ·

err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matt.

22 :29). It cert~inly does not argue for the spiritual progre ss

of our race, that such a threadbare and outworµ unbelieving

kind of science. should again, in these days, deceive and even

stultify thousands of people.

NO

AGREEMENT

AMONG

THE

CRITICS

Do these critic s then, to ask the least of them, agree with

o~e another? Far from it. To be sure, they unanimously

deny the inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of Chris~ and

of the Holy Spirit, the fall of man and the forgiven~ of ·

sins through Christ; ·also prophecy and miracles, the resurrec

tion of the dead, the final judg1nent, heaven and hell.. But ·

when it com~s to their pretendedly sure results, not any two

of them affirm the same things ; and their numerous publica

tions create a flood of disputable, self-contradictory and

mutually destructive hypothe ses. For example, the Jehovah of

the Old Testament is made to be some heathen god, either a

non1adic or steppe god, the weather -god Jahu, or the god of

West-Semitism. It was David who first introduced this divin

ity; and according to some authors the peculiar worship of

thi s god was, with its human sacrifices ( ),only a continuation

of the Baal-Moloch worship Of Abraham it is sometimes

affirmed that he never existed, but at other times that he

was a Canaanite chief, dwelling at Hebron. Nol he is .the ·

lllyth of the Aurora; and Sarah, or Scharrat~, is the wife

of the moon-god Sin, and so on. The twelve sons of Jacob

are very probably the twelve months of the year. As to

Moses, some teach there never was such a man, also that


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84

The undanientals

the ten commandments were composed in the time of Manas-

eh. No I the more moderate writers say that Moses is a

historical character.

It

was in Midian that he learned about

Jah, the tribal god of the Kenites; and he determin~d with

this divinity to liberate his people. Elijah is simply a myth;

or he was some unfortunate prophet who had perhaps been

struck by lightning. And so, too, this modern criticism knows

for sure that it was not Solomon, but a wholly unknown king,

living after the time

of

Ezra, who wrote Ecclesiastes; also

that there never was a Daniel, but that again some unknown

author wrote the book bearing that name. Moreover, Kautsch

tells us that this book first made its appearance in January,

164 B. C., while other critics are positive that it was in 165.

Query: Why could not that unknown author have been named

Daniel? ·

So also Wellhausen knows of twenty-two different au

thors-alJ of them, to be sure, unknown-£ or the books of

Moses, while Kuenen is satisfied with sixteen. The noted

English critic, Canon Cheyne, is said to have taken great

pains to

tear

the book of Isaiah's prophecies into one hundred

and sixty pieces, all by unknown writers ; which pieces were

scattered through ten different epochs including four and a

half centuries ( Modern Puritan, 1907, p. 400). Likewise

this critic knows that the fjrst chapter of Samuel originated

with an unknown writer living some five hundred years after

the time of that prophet; also that Hannah's glory-song, as

found in 2 Kings, was written by some other ''unknown.

That Eli ruled over Israel for forty years is, in all likeli

hood, the unauthentic statement of a later day (Hastings'

Bible Dictionary). Why so? we may ask.-The

book

of

Deuteronomy was written, we are told,

in 561 B. C., and

Ecclesiastes in 264

:a.

.; and a German critic, Budde, is

certain that the book of Job has somehow lost its last chapter,

and that fifty-nine verses of this book should be wholly ex

punged.


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The Bib

,le and Modern Criticism

Such are a, f'ew illu ,strations of the way in w·hich

lfol y

Scripture is treated

by

the criticism we a.re considering.

But, surely,

it would

not require much

Sagacity and intel

ligence for one, by applying such peculiar

methods,

say, to

Goethe's

works, to demonstrate

,critic ,ally that a. good sha1-e

•

of those productions, such as Erlkonig, Iphigenia,

GOtz

van

Berlichingen,

the

Wahlverwandschaften, Faust

(Parts

I.

and

II.), belong, if judged of by their style of composition and

their 'historical

and p

1

hilosophi ,cal views,

to

wholly different

epochs, and that

they

originated

with many different author s.

Mo1·eover, it

co~d

easily

be

sl1own

that

no,ne ·Of tl1ose

author s

. Jived in the times wl1en N apoleo11 Bon .aparte revolutioniz ·ed

Europ ·e, since his name is not mentioned in any o,f the produ c-

tions specified.

CRITICISM AS,

APP LIED T0

1

THE

NEW

TEST

AMENT

Of ,course this , modern Critici sm doe s not stop short of ·

the New Testament. Thi s part 0£ the Bible, H arnack say s,

•

narrat

1

es f or us incredible stori,es re specti ,ng tl1e

bi,rth

1

and

•

childhood of Christ.

''Nevermore, .'

he goes ,on

to

as,sert .,

''sh .all we believe that he walked upon the s

1

ea and com1nanded

the storm.''

It

st,and,s to reason that He did

not

rise fr 'om

t·h,e dead. The Fourth Gos,pel is spurious, an ,d so also is

according to late critical authority) the Epi stle

to

tl1e

Roma11s.

The Book of

Revelation is only · the occasion·

for

derisive laughter on the part of the se skeptical critics : and

because

it

is so, the cur se mentioned in its last · chapter is

made applicable to them (vs. 18, 19). Nev ertheless, these men

sin

most

; erio ,usly again st Cl1rist.

In ·

their

view

the

very

Son o,f God,

the Word

that

was in the

beginning

with

.God,

and that w,as God, and without Who1n nothing exi sts, is only

a fanatical young rabbi; entangled in the peculiar views and

superstition s of his people; and he died upon the cross only

because he. misconceived of the cl1aracter of l1is own missio n

a11d

the

natur ·e of

his

times. Je sus '''is not

indispe11sable

to

the Gosp

1

el," so writes Harnack .

•

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14/18

86

The FundamentaJs

·Now all this is what is denominated Biblical criticism.

It

is a jumble ·of ·mere hypotheses, imaginings and ass·ertions,

brought forward often without even the shadow of proof,

and

with no

real certainty. Still, in the se times it r~presents

itself to thousands of nominal Christians and to hundreds

of

·miserably deceived theological students who are to become

preachers of God's word , as being the assured results of

the late st

scientific

research. May God have mercy,

if

such

is .the case

WHAT ARE THE FRUITS OF THIS CRITICISM?

Now, if the se people were of the 'truth, and

if

they would

only believe Him who says, I am the way, the truth and the

life, they would not be under the necessity of · ediou sly .

working their way through the numerous publications ( statis

tics show that there appear in Europe and America annually

some eight hundred of these works)

;

but they would find in

I-Iis teaching a simple and sure means for testing the character

of these critical doctrines. Ye shall know them by thei(

fruits, is what Christ says of the false teachers who came

in His name. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of

thistles? (Matt.

:16).

Are the fruits of modern criticism

good? Where are the grapes or figs that grow ·on this thorn

bush? Has · not this critici sm already robbed, and perhaps

forever, thousands of people of their first love, their un

doubting faith, .and their joyou s hope? Has it not sowed

dissension, fostered pride and self-conce it, and injured before

all . the world the authority of both the church and its minis

ters? Has

it

not offended Christ's little ones? (Matt.

18 :6,

7).

And does it not every day

f

urnis.h the enemie s of

God with opportunities for deriding and scorning the truth?

Where are the souls that it has led to God- · com£orting,

strengthening , purifying and sanctifying them? Where are

the individuals who even in the hour of death have continued

to rejoice in the benefits of this criticism?


15/18

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•

•

•

•

•

•

The B ible and Modern Criticism

87

In the

Study-room

it ensnares, in

l,ectur

1

e-h~lls

it make ,s

great

pretenses ,,

for

n1ere

popular lectures it is still service

able; : but when

tl1e

tl1under~ ,of God's power break in upon

the soul, wh,en despair at the loss of al1 one has loved takes

possession of the mind, when remembrance of a

miserable

lost

life , or ,of past ,misdeeds is felt and realized,

wl1en

one is on a

'

sick-bed and ,death approaches, ,and the soul, appi:eciating

that it

is

now on the brink of eternity, calls , for a Savior~ .

just

at

this

thne

when

its

help

is most

needed,

tllis modern ·

religion

utterly

fails. In the year 1864, in Geneva, one

of

those modern theo

1

logians was summoned

to prepare

f'or exe

cution a young man who had committed murder and robbery.

· But he candidly

exclaimed, ''Call

some one else, I have noth

ing to say to him.'' This incompetent criticism did not know

of any consolation for

the sin-burdened soul ;

therefore

an

orthodox

clergyman

was

obtained, and the wretched man,

murderer though he was, died

reconciled

to God thr~ugh the

•

blood of

Christ. . ~·

But supl),o~e that all the teachings of this criticism were

true, wl1at would it avail us? It would put us in a sad eon

di 'tion indeed.

For ·

then,

sitting besid.e

ruined temples

a~nd

broken-d ,own . altars, with no joy as respects . the hereafter,

no

hope of

ever]asting life, no

God

to

help

us, no

forgiveness

of

sins, feeling miserable, all desolate

in our hearts

and

chaotic in our minds, we should be utterly una,b]e either to

know or be.lieve anything more. Can sucl1 a view of the

world, such a religion, which, . as was

said of

Professor .

Harnack' ,s,

lectur 'e,s

in

America,

,o.nly destro ,ys,,

removes

and

tears downt be true? Not If this modem

criticism

is ti-ue,

tl1en away with all

so-called

Christianity,

which

only deceives ·

us 'With idle tales t A way with a religion · whi

1

ch ha.s nothing

to offe ,r· us but the commonplace teachit1gs of morality I Away

\\r,ith

faith

Away with h

1

ope t Let us e·at and drink, for

tomorrow we die

•

•

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16/18

88

The undamentals

THESE TEACHINGS IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE

But let us hear

what

God' s word

has

to say regarding

this topic:

2 Pet. 1 :21.-· For no prophecy ever came by the ·will of

man ; but holy men of God spake as they were moved

by

the

Holy Ghost.

2

Tim.

3 :16, 17.- All

Scriptu re given by inspiration of

God is profitable for doctrin e, for reproof, for correction ,

for

instruction in righteou sness ; that the man of God may

be perfect, thoroughly furni shed unto all good works.

Gal. 1 :11, 12.- I certi fy you, brethren, that the Gospel

which was preached by me is not after man, neither was I

taught it, but

by

the revelation of Je sus Christ.

Rom. 1 :16.- I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Chri st;

for

it is the power of God unto salvation

to

every one

that

believeth.

Acts 20 :30.-But of your own selves shall men

ari se,

speaki ng perverse thing s, to draw away disciples after them.

2 Pet. 2 :1.- There were false prophets also among the

people, who privily shall bring in damnable her e

sies, even denying the Lord that bought them.

1 Cor. 1 :20, 21.- Where is the wise ? where

fa

the scribe?

where is the disputer of

this

world? Hath not

God

made

foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that

in the

wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it plea sed

God by the foolishne ss of preaching to save them that

believe.''

Col.

2 :4-8.- This I

say,

lest

any man should beguile y

u

with enticing word s, or spoil you through philosophy and

vain deceit, after the rudiment s of the world, and not after

Christ.''

1 Cor. 3 :19.- '' For the wisdom of this wprld is foolish

ness with God.

1 Cor. 2 :5.- That your faith should not stand in the

wisdom of n1en, but in the power of God.


17/18

•

Th.e Bi.ble

and

JII

odern Cri ti c-ism

1 Cor. 2 :4. '' And my speech and rn.y P,reaching was not

with enti .cing words of man's

wisdom,

but in

demonstration

of the Spirit and of

power.'' . -

1 Cor. 2

:12,

13.

''Now w

1

e hav

1

e rec

1

eive,d, not

the .

spi.r.it

of the

world,

but the spirit

which

is

of

God, that we might

know

the things that

ar ·e

freely

.given

to

us

of

God.

Whjch

things also we speak, not in the words which man~s wisdo·m

teacbe ·th,

b·ut ,

which

the

Holy

1

Gh.ost ·teachet h ;

ic.omparing

spiri .tual

t.hings with spiritual. ~'

Col,. 1 :21 and 2 Cor. 10 :5. Therefo ,re

''you

tha 't were

sometime

al·i,enated

and

e·nemies

in your

minds by

wicked

wor ·ks,' ' now ''bring into captivity every thought to the obedi-

e,nce o,f·Chri ,st.'' .

Ga·I, 1 :9'. ''As we said bef,01·e, so say I no·w again, , I ·£

any

man p,reach _any

other gos,pel

un ·to

you

than that

ye

have received, let him be a,c,cur .sed.'' . ,

1

C,or. 15 .:17.

''Whosoev ,er

says that Chrjst is ~ot risen, ·

'his

faith

i.s vain,

he

is

yet

in his sins. . ·

. 2

John,

vs.

7,

9, 10, 11.

''Fo r

many deceivers

are

entered

into, the world, who confess n ot that Jesus Christ is come in

th,e flesh. T'his is a deceiver and an

antichris ·t. * * *

Who

soever

tr ,ansgresseth

and abideth

no·t in

the doctrine

of

Christ,

hath

no·t

God. He

that

abideth

in

the

doc.trine .of ·Christ, he

hath bo·th th,e Fa .ther and the Son. If . the:re come, any unt .o

you, and bring not

this doctrine,

receive him

not

into your

house, neither bid him

1

God speed ; for he that bidde,th 'him

God speed ·is partaker of his evil deeds.''

Luke 11 :52. ''Woe unt ,o, you lawyers

f

fo

1

r ye

have taken

away the key of knowled.ge ; ye entered not in yourselves,

and

them .·hat

were entering in

ye l1inde1·ed.''

•

•

,CONCLUSION

Let us then, by

r,epudiating this modern criticism, show

1

our condemnation .of

it.

at

does

·it off

er us? '

Nothing.

What

does

it

take

away? Everything.

Do we have any

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18/18

90

The Fundamentals

use for it? No It neither -helps us in life nor comforts us in

death; it will not judge us in the world to come. For our

Biblical faith we do not need either the encomiums of men,

nor the approbation of a few poor sinners. We ~ill

not

attempt to improve the Scriptures and adapt them to our

liking, but we will believe them. We will not criticize them,

but we will ourselves be directed by them. We will not exer

cise authority over them, but we will obey them. We will

trust Him who is the way, the truth, and the life. His word

shall

make

us

free.

Respice

fineni

"consider the end"-that is what even the

old .Romans said. True rationalism adjudges all things from

the standpoint of eternity; and it asks of every religion,

What can you do for me with regard to the great beyond?

What does this Biblical criticism offer us here? Only fog

and ·mist, or, at best, an endless state of indecision, soxpe

thing impersonal and inactive, just like its god, whose very

nature is inconceivable. "Eternal life," writes one of these

modernists, "is only the infinitely weak vestige of the present

life." ( ) Here also the maxim proves itself true, "By

their fruits ye shall know them." Just as for our present

life this criticism offers us no consolation, no forgiveness of

sins, no deliverance from "the fear of death, through which

we are all our iifetime subject to bondage," so also it knows

nothing respecting the great beyond-nothing with regard to

that new heaven and new earth wherein righteousness shall

dwell, nothing with regard to that golden city which shines

with eternal light, nothing with regard to a God who wipes

away all tears from our -eyes. It is utterly ignorant of the

glory of God, and on that account it stands condemned.

"Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of

eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that

Christ, the Son of the living God" (John

6 :68,

69). And

He answered, "Behold, I eome quickly: hold that fast which

thou hast; that no man take thy crown" ( Rev. 3 : 11).

The Fundamentals: Volume 4, Chapter 3: The Bible and Modern Criticism

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