Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-08
THE BIBLES TRUTHFULNEss.
Rev. DR.. Briggs Describes What II
| kn0WA as the Higher Criticism.

Known as the Higher Criticism.
Rev. DR.. Charles A. Briggs. whose trial
and conviction Of heresy by the Presbyte-
Ran Church have brought him into prom
inence. occupied the pulpit at Grace NJ. E.
Church in Baltimore Sunday morning and
evening.
The sermon in the morning was upon
The Truthfulness of the Bible" DR..
Briggs spoke of the present as a time of
great importance in the history Of the
Christian Church. The eagerness for Bib
lical study and investigation. and the pro-
fundity thereof. exceeded. he thought, these
conditions at the time of the Protestant
reformation. The present was the time Of
reformation and revival
The reasons for this state Of things"
continued DR.. Briggs. ARE three: In the
first place, human thought and activity are
advancing with tremendous strides. and
there is strong tendency to change. This
change Is often for new and better things.
Next. there Is a profound dissatisfaction in
the Christian Church of today with the ex-
listing dogmas and doctrines that have been
taught for so long. There Ia q natural ten
dency to look again toward the Bible. there
to find a method Of reforming our theology
to conform with the life Of Jesus Christ.
In the third place, the study Of the Holy
Scriptures has changed in accordance with
the different methods Of learning. The BIZ
Bile is being examined coolly. calmly. scien-
tifcally. 1t has become a new book. New
wonders have been revealed. Its words,
forms. sentences have all been studied. 1t
has given rise to comparative history oran-
Client times, historical and higher criticism,
Biblical theology and kindred Biblical sci
ences. The prime result of all this Is ten
dency to do away with dogmatical beliefs
and doctrines.
But the great question is whether. after
all this investigation, the Bible can be relied
upon Is it truthful? That question depends
n W W frIlf frrl fa <r,t
uphold this view-that it Is altogether infal-
lible In art. history, sociology, literature,
law, philosophy and what not. because 1t
Is the Word of God and God can only be
the truth. Then. II we find one tiny, unim-
portant error. the Bible cannot be relied
upon, But the Bible contains many errors,
and. therefore, this theory does not hold.
The Bible comes to US from manuscript
written by men. 1t Is. therefore. liable to
human errors, being written by human be
ings- But we do not even possess the ortgi-
nal manuscripts-far from it That Ii one
way errors have crept In.
Then. In the next place. just as we might
use literal untruths to teach real and moral
truths to the child or to the untutored saw
age. is 1t not probable that God. so infinitely
high above man. has used the literal in in
structing him-which literal may not be the
exact truth? 1t makes no difference. really,
who wrote the Psalms, or the Pentateuch,
or the Book Of Matthew. or the second
half OF Isaiah; We have the magnificent.
wonderful writings. and we cannot know
who really did compose them.
|God reveals His truths by means OF hu-
man concepts; therefore, they are necessar-
lily only partial or relative, and many have
errors. We cannot assume that God speaks
to men by absolute truth-they might not
be able to understand IL.
Now, admitting these errors Of the b.
bic. we can undoubtedly believe in the doc
trine taught in the Holy Scriptures because
they reveal themselves as the work Of God
In revealing everything pertaining to Chris
tan life. Higher criticism does not inter-
fere with these. Questions of. and errors
In regard to authorship. chronology and
meter do not interfere with the divine moral
truths and precepts that the Bible teaches.
nor disturb its great ethical principles. The
Bible Is the method of communion Of man
with God, and every Christian knows it,
and no one can take away that conscious
ness. He who Is disturbed Is weak in piety
and in his vital relations to God.
The Bible is not being attacked by the
scientist and investigators. On the con-
trary, the Word Of God Is like a sword
which must be drawn from its sheath Of &C
cretions of human folly and deceit. Do not
fear the exposure of the errors of the Bible
1t will only result in the spreading Of the
truth and the Word Of God over all the
world and to all men,"