New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-28
LONDON NOTES.
A LAWYERS TILT WITH THE HIGHER
CRITICS-OLD MASTERS AND NEW
METHODS OF PORTRAITURE.
London. November 13.

criminal investigation in the Metropolitan Po-
Ice Sir Robert Anderson is left at liberty to
hunt down the Higher Critics as conspirators
against religious faith and common sense
EVEN when preoccupied with the arduous labors
If his Office. ne had found leisure to intervene
With decisive influence in the famous contro-
versy between Mr.. Gladstone and Professor
Huxley respecting the creation story in Gene
sis; and 10 write seven volumes in defence Of
rhe Book OF All the Ages" A close reasoner
and a keen controversialist. he has now con-
centrated his energies on critical examination
of Higher Criticism Of the Bible as represented
nv leaders like Professor Cheyne and Professor
Driver, whom he describes as acolytes in the
worship % this new goddess of Reason al
though they themselves are hailed by their fol-
lowers as defenders of the citadel of Christian
truth" As there is no American edition of his
new book, The Bible and Modern Criticism
published by Messrs. Holder & Stoughton) I
refer 10 il in detail as a work of singular u-
cidty Of style and Of remarkable argumenta-
tive power. The learned Bishop of Durham.
VINO writes q preface TO it. classes il with Lord
Hatherley's Continuity as a noble lay con-
tribution to the defence of faith by a master of
the practical application of legal science. While
Sir Robert Anderson by sheer force of the
habits Of q lifetime is a detective with a ruling
passion for exposing counterfeiters and enmesh-
ing conspirators in their own wiles, he is also
& trained investigator accustomed to processes
Of cross examination of witnesses and practical
tests OF the credibility of evidence. AS he was
serviceable ally for Mr.. Gladstone and a
formidable antagonist Of Professor Huxley in
proving that the creation story of Genesis was
not discredited by natural science, so he is also
in this new volume a stern and uncompromis-
ing inquisitor Of the bad reasoning of nterati
an professional experts Of Biblical style.
fae
says. and disclaims amy neat theory of in
spiration." while emphasizing the profound
humanity of the Bible, he analyses with critical
acumen the flaws in superficial rather than de-
structive indictplents Of the Bible. and calls
reverent attention TO the mysterious facts of it's
organic structure and gives US both precept and
example for always deepening study of its
hidden treasures"
L -yers are seldom mentioned IN the Bible
and such references as are made to them in the
New Testament are not complimentary, since
they are represented as tempting the Master
with adroit Questions and earning the rebuke:
Woe unto you. lawyers! for We have taken
away the key Of knowledge; ye entered net in
yourselves, and them that were entering in ye
hindeTed." They are, however, close reasoners
about the Bible, when they test it by ordinary
principles Of evidence, and accept with full ap-
probation of its fundamental Importance every
personal testimony to the credibility and au-
thenticity of the Old Testament trained
lawyer like Sir Robert Anderson is disposed TO
turn the Higher Critics out Of court when they
admit that the divine authority and revelation
Of the Old Testament were expressly taught by
the founder of Christianity, but attempt to ex-
plain away the consequences by representing
that He the dupe OF a current Jewish
ton" and was open TO suspicion Of falibility
and Of not possessing abnormal knowledge Of
either the past or the future He argues with
cumulative force in this book, whether he is
dealing with the prcem in Genesis. the struct-
ural unity Of the Pentateuch. the records of
Jonah and Daniel, the history Of Israel and the
harmony Of the Gospels, that the case Of the
Higher Critics must collapse unless they can
succeed in discrediting the testimony Of the
chief witness, the Divine Master. NO strain
ing he remarks. OF the doctrine Of Kenosis
viii cover this; it brings US within sight of the
great Anti-Christian apostasy Of the latter
days" Sir Robert Anderson's argument may
be summed up in his two positions: First, that
Christ regarded the Old Testament as divinely
inspired in the very sense IN which all these
critics repudiate inspiration; and, secondly,
that the only escape from that conclusion is TO
discredit either His teaching or the record of it,
and 10 destroy Christianity altogether He
contends with aggressive energy that the Chris
while they destroy the foundation on which it
rests, yet pose as persons Of superior enlighten-
nent and intelligence, If people would use
their reason and common sense in this matter"
he asserts with earnestness, the battle would
soon be Joined between faith and unbeief and
We should be rid of the shallow and illogical
half-scepticism Of the critics"
The author in the heat of controversy some
times forgets that he is not pursuing counter
feters and habitual criminals, but learned pro-
fessors Of Oxford and ecclesiastical refuses,
who striving in their own way ito con-
tribute to the winning back Of the educated
classes 10 religion" He does not conceal his
contempt for their bad reasoning and their
blindness 70 the consequences of their own
admissions. He asserts that any old Bailey
Practitioner could work up this kind of criti-
csm far better than the professors. and reflects
upon the animus of some representatives Of the
schools Of Professors Cheyne and Driver with
such severity that the well bred, cautious
ecclesiastic who writes the preface TO the vol
ume considers it polite 70 disassociate himself
from certain passages Possibly Sir Robert
Anderson while one Of the most courteous and
smiable among Engishmen, has some degree
Of insensibity to the amenities of theological
discussion in an era when earnestness on any
subject is considered ''shockingly bad form;
but his brusqueness and racy invective are
oracing and intellectually stimulative, although
he Higher Critics and loose thinkers are irri-
lated by his book, as is evident from the tone OF
some Of the reviews of it, It is essentially
lawyers book and is colored by a professional
Prejudice against expert testimony against
which he quotes the rnatured judgment Of Sir
James Fitzjames Stephens, that it is urgently
IN need Of the test Of cross-examination. In
no other epbere he remarks. save that of