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hear them .” And when Dives replies, “Nay, fath er Abraham ; b u t if one went unto them from th e dead, they will re pent,” He puts into Abraham ’s lips those terrib ly solemn words: “ If they h ear not Moses and th e prophets, neith er will they be persuaded though one rose from th e dead.” (Luke 16:27-31). When he has heard these' words, surely for th e man who acknowledges th e Deity and consequent infallibility of Christ, th e question of th e Mosaic au thorship of th e P entateuch is au tho ri tatively and finally settled ; and instead of spending tim e in idle speculation he will read it to h ear w hat “ th e Holy Ghost sa ith ” therein. An Infallible Rule And th is principle of th e infallibility of Christ may be applied to all Biblical questions. I am not disturbed by ques tions as to th e historicity of th e book of Jonah. I should be quite content to learn its religious lessons as allegoric ally taugh t, even if th e book had no historic foundation, providing th e re can be found noth ing in any other p a rt of scripture requiring me to regard the book as being historically true. An allegorical Jonah, and a parabolic fish, and a legendary gourd, will do no vio lence to my faith , if I can secure the consent of my one infallible A uthority to my holding such a view; for I am no t free to form an opinion on th e sub ject: my though t of th e book of Jonah m ust be b rough t into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Therefore, what saith my g reat P rofessor of Bible knowl edge? H ear Him again: “An evil and adulterous generation saeketh afte r a sign; and th ere shall no sign be given unto it, b u t th e sign of the prophet Jon as; for as Jonas was th ree days and th ree nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be th ree days and th ree n igh ts in the h e a rt of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgm ent w ith th is genera tion, and shall condemn it; because they
W hat use can I now make of this divine pronouncement? How is th e au th o rity of Christ w ith respect to th e Scriptures to determ ine my own a tti tud e tow ard th e Bible? Let me give you two or th ree simple illu strativ e ap plications of th e principle. Personally, I am not concerned per se about th e human authorship of th e books attrib u ted to Moses. When I find th e w riter of the epistle to th e Hebrews saying of certain things in Exodus and Leviticus, “The Holy Ghost th is signifying,” I could be content to ignore th e hum an au tho r and listen to th e divine word. But when I find th a t th e life and times of Moses are so inex tricably interwoven w ith th e P en ta teuch th a t it is impossible to elim inate Moses w ithout invalidating th e first five books of th e Bible, th e Mosaic au tho r ship of the P entateuch becomes a ques tion of v ital importance. Therefore I m ust bring th is vexed question to “the au tho r and finisher of my fa ith ” for settlem ent/ And now let us hear Him! To th e Sadducean n atu ra lists of His day, He said: “DcTye no t therefore err, because ye know no t the Scriptures, n eith er the power of God? . . . Have ye not read in th e book of Moses, how in th e bush God spake to h im ?” (Mark 12:24, 26). And again: “Do not th ink th a t I will accuse you to th e F ath er. There is one th a t accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye tru st. F o r had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he w rote of me. But if ye believe not his w ritings, how shall ye believe my words?” (John 5:25-47). And yet again, in th a t most solemn parable which is a prophecy of retribu tion be yond th e grave, in answer to th e once- rich m an’s request, th a t Lazarus be sent to w arn his five b reth ren , Christ repre sents Abraham as saying, (and as say ing it in th e clearer ligh t and fuller knowledge of the life beyond) “They have Moses and the prophets; le t them
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