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THE KING’S BUSINESS'
important to have a clear understandings of what it means to call attention to the evi dence o f the New Testament embodying the attitude o f our Lord and His followers. W e do not invoke the authority o f Christ to close questions summarily, but we adduce the witness o f the New Testament in sup port o f the contentions o f conservative his torical scholarship. I f we see that the wit ness o f Christ „and His Apostles corre sponds with the Church’s view o f the Bible, the testimony is assuredly weighty, and this is all that is desired. But it is also impossible to ignore the testimony o f Christ, because He is actually claimed by the critical side. It is said that our Lord was “the First Critic.” Whaf does this mean? There was no difference, between our Lord and His opponents as to the authority o f the Bible o f that day; no difference as to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch; no difference as to the posi tion and work o f David and other Old Testament personages. The only differ ence, and this was fundamental, was as to the interpretation o f that Scripture, the authority o f which both our Lord and His enemies accepted. It is therefore unfair to beg the question and call Christ “the First Critic,” especially as He described His relation to the law as that o f fulfilment, not o f destruction. What, then, was our Lord’s general view o f the Old Testament? That His Old Testament was practically, if not literally, the same as ours, and that He had a thor ough knowledge o f its contents, are admit ted by all.' Nor does anyone seriously deny that Jesus Christ accepted the Old Testa ment as authoritative, inspired, and the final court o f appeal for all questions con nected with it. No one can go through the Gospels without being impressed with the profound reverence o f our Lord for the Old Testament and with His constant use o f it in all religious matters. Whether He referred to Bible names, or incidents, or to its deep teaching about God, it was always with the utmost reverence and with the evident conviction that it embodied a divine
blessing o f the Spirit o f Truth rests upon those who are serving God while holding and teaching the conservative view. There are men today o f outstanding influence doing evangelistic and pastoral work who cling tenaciously to the “old paths.” Their belief has been no bar to the grace of God. Blessing has manifestly come through use o f the books o f the Old Testament as they now exist; Divine lessons have been brought home to us by means o f the pres ent form o f the older part o f Scripture. Biblical criticism deals with literature, but it should never be forgotten that the Bible represents the literature of Divine revela tion. While we welcome all that criticism can do in making the past clearer, and in enabling us to enter more fully into the Divine methods of work, yet the Bible is the revelation o f God for spiritual life, and not merely for historical literature, however valuable. Whenever criticism tends to for get this and to emphasize what are called scientific methods and theories, the question o f the spiritual value o f the Bible becomes imperative. What is even worse is the spiritual loss manifestly seen in those preachers who hold but do not preach the critical view, for it cannot but be detrimental to the ethical life o f a man to hold one thing and to preach another. Until a spiritual note is struck Christian workers will be unable to accept the modern critical position. “The musical know what is music, and the spiritual what is o f the Spirit.” For this reason we hold that any doctrine o f the Bible for spiritual men must bear the seal o f the Holy Spirit. The conserva tive view has the mark o f this seal, and has been, and is being, abundantly "blessed. Can this be said of the advanced critical position ? IV. The Witness of Our Lord and His Apostles. For many reasons it would be preferable to leave our Lord Jesus out o f this sub ject, because we are convinced that scholar ship is amply sufficient to settle the ques tion. But while this is impossible, it is
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