The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-28

1t Ia asserted. however. In some quarters that
Jesus and his Apostles have determined these
questions for us. and that His divine authority
relieves us OF any obligation to investigate
further. What. as a matter Of fact. do Jesus
and His Apostles teach as to the questions OF
higher criticism =? II they used tho language
OF the day In speaking of the Old Testament
book. it does not follow that they adopted any
Of the views OF authorship and editorship that
went with these terms In the Talmud or in
Josephus or in the Apocalypse OF Ezra. Their
words are not to be interpreted on this or any
other subject by any such external authority.
but by the plain. grammatical and contextual
sense OF the words themselves. On pages
2ol-2I2 DR.. Briggs presents a summary
OF what Is taught in various passages OF
the New Testament regarding the authorship
or editorship Of the books OF the Old Testa-
ment. these books being divided accord
ing to the well-known classification into. first,
the Law: secondly. the Prophets. and thirdly.
the Writings. technically so called. There il
no doubt that in the Fourth Gospel Jesus
speaks Of the Law Of Moses" and In Mark
Gospel OF 1.-The Book OF Moses" The Evan
gelist Luke uses Moses" for the Law. SO in
the Acts and In certain Epistles the Apostles
refer to 1.-The Law Of Moses" and use Moses"
for the Law. These are all cases OF naming
books cited. Or. Briggs submits that it is rea-
sonab!e to assume that the name Moses was EN-
'p!oyed In these passages as being the generally
received name OF the work containing his
legislation. and in the history OF which he
was the central figure. In the passage OF the
Acts which runs Moses. indeed, said. A
Prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you.
&c. Yea. and all the prophets from
samuel. and them that followed after.
as many as have spoken. they also
told OF these days" It is necessary to
interpret Samuel" not Of the Prophet 80
named. but OF the book ascribed to samuel.
and to think OF the prophecy Of Nathan therein
set forth. II this be so. is it not natural. asks
DR.. Briggs. to interpret Moses " here as also
referring to the book OF Deuteronomy. rather
than 10 the person OF Moses? II that be true
In this case 1t may also be true Of other cita-
tons from the Law In the New Testament.
Samuel cannot. it Is admitted. be recorded as
the author OF the book that bears his name:
why. then. should any one suppose that we are
forced to conclude from these passages that
Moses IL the author Of the book that bears his
name?
With regard to the citations In the New Tes-
lament from the Prophets. 1t ia pointed out that,
OF the two quotations from jeremiah both in
Matthew. the second is from Zechariah. on
which account chapters TX. and xi. OF Xechariah
have been attributed to jeremiah by Meade.
Hammond and Kidder. 1t is now generally
conceded. however. that the Evangelist made
a mistake. In Mark there is a quotation
ascribed to Isaiah which really occurs In
Malachi. Ten OF the citations ascribed to
Isaiah in the New Testament are from Isaiah,
chapters x~l.-lxvi. which. as all modern critics
agree. we're not written by Isaiah or in
tho time OF Isaiah. but In the time OF
the exile. by a great prophet unnamed
and unknown. Jonah 10 referred to in
Matthew as a prophet In connection with his
preaching to Nineveh and his abode in the
belly of the great fish. But no such reference
Is made to the book that bears Jonah's name
as to imply his authorship OF It. The question
whether the story Of Jonah is history or Action
is not decided by Jesus's use OF 1t. for, as a
parable. 1t answers his purpose no less than II
1t we're history. Among the citations from the
Writings, technically 40 called. is one from the
Book OF Daniel. introduced under the formula,
which was spoken through Daniel the
Prophet" 1t is questionable whether these
words were spoken by Jesus. for they do not
occur in the corresponding passages OF Mark
or Luke. and. even II they were. they no more
commit Him to the assertion that the book
ascribed to Daniel was composed by a person
OF that name than would a quotation on our
part from the letters OF Junius commit us to a
" ''eA uAiS III was
the author Of the letters. Az to the Psalms.
there is no doubt that six out Of the $50 are d.
rectly attributed to David in the New Testa-
ment. and In one passage OF the Fpistle to the
Hebrews the name David is employed as II it
were used az an alternative title for the whole
Psalter. whereas even the tradition transmitted
by the Talmud holds simply that David wrote
the Book OF Psalms with the aid OF the Ten
Ancients." In the citation Of the 10th Psalm
by Jesus. the argument seems to depend on
the assertion that David himself employed
the words, The Lord said unto my Lord"
DR.. Plummer. however. deems 1t a mistake
to contend that Jesus has thereby de-
cided the question Of the authorship OF
the 10th Psalm. There is nothing ante
cedently Incredible In the hypothesis that in
such matters. as In other details Of human in
formation. He condescended not to know more
than His contemporaries. and that He. the refore.
believed what He had been taught In the school
and in the synagogue. Nor ought we sum-
marily to dismiss the suggestion that. although
he knew that the Psalms were not written by
David. He yet abstained from challenging be.