The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-15

ter OF the Biblical books' Arc they histori.
CALI Have they any divine authority be-
hind themf Do they record any divine
revelation, ftly so called9 To ell thsse
questions the answers returned by high
authorities In criticism are diverse, often
contradictory. By most disciples Of the
Graf Wellhausen school the historioity Of
the Pentateuch is rejected. Thero 10 no
unaminity, however. DR.. Briggs accepts IL.
George Adam Smith finds o Historical
substratlm In It,
Dr.. Driver In his Commentary on 0snesiss
appears to occupy q middle ground, ad-
yancinR some arguments for considering
the patriarohs historic characters, though
no finds no History" in the FIRST eleven
chapters Of 0eneais. DR.. J. p. Pstass holas
that the patriarohs are not historic oAaF.
acters and that Moses Il the frst man Of
flesh and blood with whom we meet In the
Scriptural narrative. DR.. Cheyne, for his
part, thinks that scholars will ere long
see that Moses, too, 10 fictitious parsonage.
As TO tho alleged communication Of Q divine
revelation, Driver and George Adam Smith
find some record OF IL In the Pentateuoh,
at least In a certain sense Of the word rcvela-
ton. Not 40 Ktinen and Wenhausen. Well
hausen holds that the Israelitish religion,
far from having it's origin in a divine v
lation, as the Bible asserts, worked itself
I'D by degrees out Of heathenism, while
Kttnen maintains that the Jewish and
Christian religions are no more entitled
to be considered Of supernatural origin
than Buddhism or Islamism. II, lastly,
we inquire whether the critics OF the Graf
Wellhausen school do not at least agree
about the date and character OF tbs four
principal sources, say Of tbs Pentateuck,
we find the master Of the school averring
that p (the priestiy oode) was a post-edlio
fabrication-made out Of the whole cloth
by the priestiy school-while DR.. Briggs
thinks that, although P did indeed assume
it's present shape In the G subsequent to
Ezekiel, yet It rests ultimately upon an
ancient traditional basis. He would say
that II was compiled at that time, not COM
posed, or produced, as wellhausen says.
DR.. McKim submits hat In face Of facts
such as these, tho argument from una
nimity for the sassured results Of the higher
criticism does not impress one as convtno-
ing. It simply Ia not true, what many ad-
vocates Of the new opinions assert, III
.the question is settled; the great scholars
have decided IL; the debate Is closed No
longer would it he possible for DR.. Briggs to
demand triumphantly, as he demanded In
1893: Where arc the professors In the
Old Testament department, In the uni
versities and colleges Of Europe, that hold
a different view" from that ~propounded
by the Graf Wellhausen SCHOOL, As We
have seen, it is now possible to answer tbs
challenge by pointing to Prof. D. 8. Mar
goliouth Of the University Of Oxford, to DR..
James Robertson Of the University Of dlas-
gov, to DR.. Fritz Hommel Of the University
Of Munich, and to DR.. A. 81. Sayoe OF On.
ford, all of them professors Of Semitic
languages, and all Of them arrayed In
opposition to the Wellhausen analysis OF
the Scriptural documents n Of the Mosaic
legislation Moreover, some OF the very
scholars whom in 1898 DR.. Briggs enumerated
in his roll Of Wellhaueen adherents have
since changed sides. Among these may DO
named the distinguished a~rcheologist DR..
Hommel, who in 1897 declared his nov
attitude in his Ancient Hebrew Tradition
In 1899 also Prof. G.. Won Oreli stood forth as
sponsor for the monograph entitled Are the
Critics Right" in which the young scholar
Wilhelm M6ller renowned his allegiance to
Wellhausen. In the very year when DR..
Briggs issued his challenge. Prof. Kloster-
of Kiel published his work IN
Deuteronomy, controverting Wellhausen's
views. With the pillars Of the edifoe
which DR.. Briggs assumed to be indestruo-
tible thus lettering and %crumbling. is there
some ground for the suggestion that
the fate which befell Christian Baur, the
Of the once dominant but now ut
terly discredited T1bingen theory Of the
life and work of Jesus OF Nazareth, may
yet ov ertake Julius Wellhausen2