The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-03-18


is no difference in the nature of miracles
more IMAM there is in the nature of fruit,
estoh after It's kind. An apple is always
M apple, pear always pear. Miracles
aio alw7?s acts or occurrences beyond
ehe power OF man to accomplish. In this
sense one miracle is no more wonderful
6nAn another In this sense miracles are
occurring about us every day in the vary
Ing moods and changes of4nature, in the
termination and growth of her physical
lofihs: It has been said that minister,
progressed exponent of the Bible, as the
Wnfo OF God, should be commended for
MS moral courage in declaring it is not
me word Of Gtd. That is. he should be
con- mended in giving the lie to his pro-
fession. There is sort of courage which
oeiones TO the renegade and traitor when
i ne uehes MS party. or profession. and
leaves 1t. There is none when he re-
mains IN It,: The minister who believes
Ghat there are certain clerical errors in
1he Book. or in its arrangement, may be
excused, perhaIs for stepping out of the
line of mis- duty, which la that of saving
souls. The minister who declares that
Ihe Bible. as n whole. il not tho Word of
dod, has PASSED the line of criticism and
Is merely skeptic. He believes as Bob
ingersoll believes and breaches, though
DIS moral courage is far inferior to his.
what other difference Is there between
them? If there Is difference in motive,
there.is no difference In the end-destruc-
ton of faith in the Bible as work of
inspiration. The moral courage of all
these ministerial critics, these ardent adj
mlrers of, the Higher Criticism, is. to say
the least, of doubtful kind. 1t has its
limitations. A clergyman may nave the
courage to deny the story Of Jonah, but
is he as ready to deny the raising of
Lazarus, or the resurrection of Christ? If
n riQrOvmnn 6anfnS he
all. The Bible is full of miracles, from
the creation of Eve to the res direction of
Christ / believe there nre no less than
twenty recorded in the book of Exodus
Ii we deny NIL we may throw the Bible
aside, call it lie, a fable, q sort Of Ara
bian Nights and Baron Munohaussn
work of fiction or literature. If we ad-
nit it as inspiration, and the bet
ter class Of the socalled higher
critics do admit this in their adj
mission or theory, that inspiration means
the spirit evolved in and through the
Hebrew race. and eliminating last, in
prominently inspired personalities, -
we must admit the divine origin of the
Bible, and accept 1t, ms whole. 1t APP
pears to me simple thing to believe in
inspiration not. alone, Of the inspired
writer's, of Christ and His apostles, but az
matter Of daily experience in the
prompting to every good act, or the
whole sum OF good acts and deeds, in the
life experience of all good men. Good
deeds are inspired, through all human
personalities, by the divine spirit of All
Goodness.
AS there is a wide variance Of opinion
and endless controversy between the
critics of the "Higher Criticism 1t is
difficult to know just what they mean.
though 1t is clear that the Higher Ortiz
cism can scarcely he classed, as yet, as
~, t. {axt,4
more justly termed vulgar contention
between theological lights to see which is
gifted with ths higher erudition, the
most brilliant imagination, or the greater
skill in guessing about things of which
few have the effronter to pretend they
really know much about. The editor of
the London Review of Reviews attempts
to explain what the Higher Criticism is,
and to make it "plain to plain men," 1t
ia impossible to 60 through his explana-
ton of it in newspaper article, but the
gist If it all Is this: That certain emf.
nent scholars. whose names are given,
have discovered that many of the sacrad
books are of a composite NATURE and
that their comparatively late origin
necessitates change in the theory OF in
spiration. This necessitates, the scholars
say, the publishing of the Pulychrome
Bible, in colors. "By printing frag-
men5,' the writer gays, s'of single
chapter, each section of which ia printed
in a color representing the period in
which internal evidence (this "internal
evidence must be either specimen of
modern inspiration, or of monumental
guess-work,) the composite nature If the
pas sage il CLEARLY brought OUT" And so on
the promised result of this biblical patch-
work is to show that the Bible did not
write itself, but that inspiration was,
originally, thing of the spirit, and not
of the letter, something which terminated
and grew in the life and experience of
the Hebrew race, till it finally calminat-
ed In 'pre eminently inspired persouali-
ties. - 10 tie mountain labors and de-
livers a rodent; not a novel specimen by
any means, or ofunknown speoies. The
general theory of inspiration ID not denied
but finer interpretation of it is claimed
than could have come through ''the art
less traditions of the Hebrews" while it
is refreshing to note that the 'tmore be-
lieving" members of the school of higher
critics unhesitatlngly affirm that 1.-the
Source of the inspiration OF the Sacred
Writers was divine and that the Soul of
their teachings was the Revelation of
God.
Much of the contention between critics
is as to the earliest appearance of apos-
tolic writing and on this weighty mat
tor DIR. Alfred Resch appears to have the
first innings, going back as far as the
latter part of the first centnry. Another
question to decide Is whether the Gospel
is of Aramaic or Semitic origin, Won
Lie Arnold Meyer, holding to the former.
The army of critics is divided into too
many cliques and ssts to attempt to
enumerate them. Arch geological and
literary research is being exhausted to
throw light upon the matter. One set
of critics is especially troubled about the
time when the first Gospel writings ap-
peared. There is difference of from one
to three hundred years between these.
Others are more interested in the ar
rangement, condensation. and authority
of the hooks of the Bible Some, after
changing the order of the chapters, etc.,
as proposed in the Polychrome Bible,
would condense the Old Testament to
Elk looks. others, to more, or less, while
one (Hort) would be satisfied with only
the Book Of James and the New Tesla
ment. DR.. A blot ia best or more wide
ly known, as n critic, through his opinion
of Jonah and the whale ami is getting
severely handled by the religious press
throughout tile country. III fact the
higher critics are made up of class of
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