Old Testament Critici.sm aml New Testament Christ1anity 1 33 Nicoll, editor of the "British Weekly," remarked quite recently that the "assured results" seem to be vanishing, that no one really knows what they are. 4. IS THE POSITION OF MODERN CRITICISM REALLY COMPATIBLE WITH A BELIEF IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A DIVINE REVELATION ? The problem before us is not merely literary, nor only hi s torical; it is essentially religious, and the wholematter resolves itself into one question : Is the Old Testament the record of a Divine revelation? This is the ultimate problem. It is admit ted by both sides to be almost impossible to minimize the differences between the traditional and the modern views of the Old Testament. As a reviewer of Dr. George Adam Smith's book, "Modern Criticism and the Preachingof the Old Testament", rightly says: "The difference is immense ; they involve different con ceptions of the relation of God to the worldr; different views as to the course of Israel's history, the process of revelation, and the nature of inspiration. We cannot be lifted from the old to the new position by the influence of a charming literary style, or by the force of the most enthusiastic eloquence."* In view of this fundamental difference, the question of the trustworthiness of the Old Testament becomes acute and pressing. In order to test this fairly and thoroughly, let us examine some of the statements made on behalf of the modem view. We may consider first the rise and progress of religion in Israel. Dr. G. A. Smith saysr: "It is plain, then, that to what ever heights the religion of Israel afterwards rose, it remained before the age of the great prophets not only similar to, but in all respects above-mentioned identical with, the general Semitic religion; which was not a monotheism, but a polytheism with an opportunity for monotheism at the heart of it, each tribe *"American Journal of Theology", Vol. VI., p. 114.
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