The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-12-07
BIBLICAL CRITICISM.
FROM THE ANDOVER RE
VIEW.
The Necessity of Scientific
Study of the Bible De
mOuStrated.

One who is in earnest in desiring to
know the Bible will study it. criti-
cally. He will in his approach to it
as literature apply the canons of lite
rary criticism. He will first ask
whether the text is made up of the
words which the authors wrote, using
in conducting his inquiry all the
copies of the various books, printed
and manuscript, at his command,
and following in employing them
the accepted principles of teXtual
criticism. He will ask whether the
several books of the Bible were writ
ten by their reputed authors, at what
time, and under what circumstances.
The result of his critical inquiries
will evidently be likely to increase
the amount of his Biblical knowledge.
If his teXtual criticism gives him a
better text, it will help him to a
better acquaintance with the thought
of the sacred writers, since every cor
ruption of the text blurs, albeit
slightly, its meaning. If his literary
criticism enables him to set an apos-
tOlic letter at its true place in it's
authors career, as is the case with
First Peter, or Paurs Thessalonian
letters, or to give it its true occasion,
it aids the Interpretation, since finer
shades of thought are only to be dis
cerned in their subtle connection
with the authors mood or the read
er's moral state. Criticism and exc
gesis necessarily go hand in hand.
| Critical insight is, all admit, indis-
pensable to competent Interpreter
of the Scriptures.
IOr,,, 10 In El,0 l.
will also lead to the use of historical
criticism upon its statements Of facts.
| We suspect that some who have
assented to what we have said thus far
| will hesitate to follow us here. Be
cause they are accustomed to regard
the Bible as the sole and sufficient
source of sacred history, they find
the opinion that its statements must
be subjected to criticism, to be rightly
| employed, inconsistent with its SUI
! preme value and religious authority.
| But a moments reflection will, we
| think, Justify our statement. Why
| does Christian faith go to the histO-
rical statements of the Bible for nour-
ishment? Because it expects to learn
by means of them of historic self
| revelation of God. A certain section
of the worlds life discloses Him as
| does no other. Thither it looks tC
see Him. Now this part of human
history was shaped by the same laws
which shaped all the rest, and is in
vital connection with the whole. TIC
be adequately known it must be
known historically. Its events must
be seen in their order and their mu'
tuaI relations, and in their cOnnec
ton with the correlated facts of the
worlds life. The more nearly we
approach such knowledge, the nearer
do we come to obtaining the reVela
ton of God which they give. He
sees best the divine thought convey
ed in the life of the Hebrew people
who has the best knowledge of it:
life, who sees most clearly its devel-
opment both in physical strength anC
spiritual stature, who estimates mos
accurately the forces, moral and ply
; steal, which by their mutual anC
combined action made it what i
was. Such knowledge cannot b.
gained merely by reading the book
} of the Old Testament. The infOrma
ton they give is fragmentary, and, i
, must be owned, not altogether accu
rate. To be put to its best use, thu
j information must be arranged, anu L
some extent corrected, by the critlca
faculty. 1t must also be set int
} connection with eXtra-B Biblical events
if it's spiritual elements are to appea
J. in the clearest light. Old Testamen
t criticism is to-day doing just thl
, work for the church. Driver
. sIsaiah" may be mentioned as one c
many noble contributions made b
the biblical science of our time
I Christian faith.
l The help of criticism is indispensi
] bIe i'm obtaining q knowledge of til
:. life of Christ. The Gospel narrative
/ are fragmentary, lack chronologic'
4 arrangement, and are in some
: their statements apparently at var
! ance with each other. a view OF II
Il career of our Lord as whole, and
g its connection with contemporaries
: Jewish life, can only be gained by
b critical process in which the Gosp
q material is arranged and supplement
ed bv other historical matter; sue
work as has been undertaken [
Neander, Keim, Weiss, and Be
schIag. If this perfect human IL
# were indeed as a whole, and II
merely in its exceptional acts al
experiences, the medium of a unlq
0, manifestation of God, then q
church must always aspire to gain
knowledge of it in it's Wilderness, al
+ always be putting the Gospels to t
at use suggested by historical science;
h The pursuit of Biblical knowledGE
- then, involves Biblical criticism. 1
z true student of the Bible cannot b
IL be a critic, using the best instrumeI
st the human mind has forged IN del
s, inc for it's treasures of knowled
it and fashioning them into servo
" able form. He will be Christl
9 student, recognizing the spiritual e
~ ments in the life recorded in SER
J ture. and giving them their due INF
IL, ence in the formation of his critic
I'd conclusions. He will also be scle
is tifc, treating facts honestly, a
i'd reasoning from them fairly and lei
of lessly, as do faithful men IN OH
r. departments of historical researl
ct believing that nothing can be DO
" for Christian truth by methods WIN
are other than truthful. Such sch
airs the church has, and among l
It. faithful servants they are not t
least deserving of her sympathy d