Christian Faith and Life Volume 9 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 Excerpt: ...in bringing about the present situation has, it sepps, at last discovered that it no longer requires "any special heroism" "openly" to state and advocate the changed conception of the Bible and of religion necessitated by the principles and premises of that school. Indeed, it has persuaded itself that these changed conceptions are themselves "in every way to the advantage of religion and the Bible."1 Let us then under its very competent guidance proceed to examine these changes. And lest I should be suspected of stooping to mere travesty, I shall avail myself as far as possible of the very language employed by The Biblical World in setting forth these best "assured" of all "the concrete results" of the critical school for which it speaks. First Result: A Change of View as to "The Mere Matter of Data' The following will serve as a beginning. It will be found in the paragraph immediately preceding that in which The Biblical World sets up the, everything considered, remarkable claim above cited. I quote--"But we run no risk in saying that the more modern theory, that the books 'of the Pentateuch' were based on older documents and assumed their present form centuries after Moses, with its corollary that much of the material is in no strict sense historical, but ancient legend shot through with the religious purpose of the prophet who gave it shape, will be by a large number of the more intelligent writers, pastors and teachers either openly advocated or simply taken for granted, and that in very few instances will it require any special heroism to take this stand."1' Here then we have, in the very words of The Biblical World itself some of the changes in our conception of the Bible and indirectly ...