Monument Facts and Higher Critical Fancies (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1904. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII THE DOCTRINE OF RELIGIOUS EVOLUTION THRIVEN from its first assumption of the late " DEGREESuse of writing for literary purposes, the 'higher criticism' has fallen back on the doctrine of evolution. Evolution is the keynote of modern science, both physical and psychological, the magical key with which it hopes to unlock the secrets of the universe. There has been evolution and development in history, as well as in the forms of life, in the systems of the material universe or in the processes of thought. There must have been evolution also in religious and moral ideas, in political conceptions and theological dogmas. If once we could discover its law, we should be able to trace the course it has followed, and know what is first and what is last in the religious systems of the past. The disciples of the 'higher criticism' have assumed not only that the law is discoverable, but also that they have themselves discovered it. They know precisely how religious ideas must have developed in the past, and can consequently determine the relative age of the various forms in which they are presented to us. Certain conceptions of the priesthood or the sanctuary, the 'critic' tells us, are older than others; therefore, if there are books or passages which do not conform to his ruling, they must be forced to do so by an alteration of the traditional dates. What the critic believes to have been the order of evolution is thus made the measure of their age and authenticity. But it does not follow that what the 'critic' believes must have been the order of evolution was necessarily so. In all probability it was not. The European critic of the twentieth century, writing in his library of printed books, has little in common with the Oriental of the ancient world. The thoughts of.