The History of the Higher Criticism. 29 equal to that of the Germans. They certainly handle the Old Testament as if it were ordinary literature. And in all their theories they seem like plastic wax in the hands of the rationalistic moulders. But they still cla i m to bel i eve in B i bl i cal i nspirat i on. A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY.
The i r theory of i nsp i ration must b e , th e n, a v e ry diff e r e nt on e from that h e ld by th e av e rag e Chr i st i an. In th e Bampton L e ctur e s for 1903, Prof e ssor Sanday of Oxford, as th e e xpon e nt of th e lat e r and mor e cons e rvat i v e school of H i gh e r Cr i t i c i sm, cam e out w i th a th e ory which h e t e rm e d th e i nduct i v e th e ory. It i s not e asy to d e scr i b e what i s fully m e ant by th i s, but i t app e ars to m e an th e pr e s e nc e of
what th e y call "a d i vin e e l e m e nt" in c e rta i n pa1ts of th e B i bl e . What that r e ally i s h e do e s not accurat e ly d e clar e . T h e languag e always vapours off i nto th e vagu e and i nd e fin i t e , wh e ne v e r h e sp e aks of i t. In what books i t i s h e do e s not say. "It i s pr e s e nt in d i ff e r e nt books and parts of books i n d i ff e r e nt d e gr ee s." "In som e th e D i v i n e e l e m e nt is at th e max i mum; i n oth e rs at th e min i mum." H e i s not always sur e . H e i s sur e i t is not in Esth e r, i n Eccl e s i ast e s, i n Dan i e l. If i t i s i n th e histor i cal books, i t i s th e r e as conv e y i ng a r e lig i ous l e sson rath e r than as a guarant ee of h i storic v e rac i ty, rath e r as i nt e rpr e t i ng than as narrat i ng. At th e sam e t i m e , i f th e h i stor i e s as far as t e xtual construct i on was conc e rn e d w e r e "natural proc e ss e s carri e d out naturally," i t i s d i fficult to s ee wh e r e th e D i v i n e or sup e rnatural e l e m e nt com e s i n. It i s an i nspirat i on wh i ch s ee ms to hav e b ee n d e v i s e d as a hypoth e sis of comprom i s e . In fact, i t i s a t e nuous, e qu i vocal, and i nd e t e rminat e
som e th i ng, th e amount of which i s as i nd e fin i t e as i ts qual i ty. (Sanday, pag e s 100-398; cf. Driv e r, Pr e fac e , i x.) But i ts most s e r i ous f e atur e is th i s : It i s a th e ory of i nspirat i on that compl e t e ly ov e rturns th e old-fashion e d i d e as of th e B i bl e and i ts unqu e stion e d standard of author i ty and
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