The Fundamentals (1910), Vol.1

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The Fundamentals. Cincinnati ; and Lee on thé Inspiration of Holy Scripture is published by Rivingtons. Bishop Wordsworth, on the “In­ spiration X)f the Bible,” is also very scholarly and strong. Rivingtons, 1875.), The Bible can no longer, according to the critics, be viewed in this light. It is not the Word in the old sense of that term. I t is not the Word of God in the sense that all of it is given by the inspiration of God. It simply contains the Word of God. In many of its parts it is just as uncertain as any other human book. It is not even reliable history. Its rec­ ords of what it does narrate as ordinary history are full of falsifications and blunders. The origin of Deuteronomy, e. g., was “a consciously refined falsification.” ( See Môller, page 207.) THE REAL DIFFICULTY. But do they still claim to believe that the Bible is inspired ? Yes. That is, in a measure. As Dr. Driver says in his preface, “Criticism in the hands of Christian scholars does not banish or destroy the inspiration of the Old Testament; it pre-supposes it.”, That is perfectly true. Criticism in the hands of Christian scholars is safe. But the preponderating scholarship in Old Testament criticism has admittedly not been in the hands of men who could be described as Chris­ tian scholars. I t has been in the hands of men who disavow belief in God and Jesus Chriçt Whom He sent. Criticism in the hands of Horne and Hengstenberg does not banish or destroy the inspiration of the Old Testament. But, in the hands of Spinoza, and Graf, and Wellhausen, and Kuenen, inspiration is neither pre-supposed nor possible. Dr. Briggs and Dr. Smith may avow earnest avowals of belief in the Divine character of the Bible, and Dr. Driver may assert that critical conclusions do not touch either the, authority or the inspiration of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, but from first to last, they treat God’s Word with an indifference almost

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