116 The F1t11da.mentals. is Professor Driver's statement of the case against the Books of Moses: "We can only argue on grounds of probability derived from our view of the progress of the art of writing, or of literary composition, or of the rise and growth of the prophetic tone and feeling in ancient Israel, or of the period at which the traditions contained in the narratives might have taken shape, or of the probability that they would Jiave been written down before the impetus given to culture by the monarchy had taken effect, and similar considerations, for estimating most of which, though plausible arguments on one side or the other may be advanced, a standard on which we can confidently rely scarcely admits of being fixed." ("Introduction," 6th ed., page 123.) This modest reference to "literary composition" and "the art of writing" is characteristic. It is intended to gloss over the abandonment of one of the chief points in the original attack. Had "Driver's Introduction" appeared twenty years earlier, the assumption that such a literature as the Pentateuch could belong to the age of Moses would doubtless have been branded as an anachronism. For one of the main grounds on which the books were assi gn archy was that the Hebrews e o d f to six the ce l n a t t u te r r ie d s a e y a s rl o ie f r th w e er m e o a n n illiterate people. And after that error had been refuted by archaelogical discoveries, it was still maintained that a code of laws so advanced, and so elaborate, as that of Moses could not have originated in such an age. This figment, however, was in its turn exploded, when the spade of the explorer brought to light the now famous Code of Khammurabi, the Amraphel of Genesis, who was king of Babylon in the time of Abraham. fron In te s d te b ad y , th h i o s w n e e v w er, w o it f ne d ss o , nn th in e g cr t i h ti e cs w , h w i i t t e h s g h r e e e a t t w eff h r e o n nt c e o r n y , pointed to the newly-found Code as the original of the laws of Sinai. Such a conclusion is natural on the part of men who treat the Pentateuch as merely human. But the critics cannot have it both ways. The Moses who copied Khammurabi must
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker