The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1910-04-15


contending that Matthew and not
Mark is the oldest record that we
have OF the Christ We hardly
think that it makes much difference
which is the older, and we do not
deem it profitable to pursue the
subject further, as his present argu-
tion under discussion. This is the
sentence to which Father Dreysr
took exceptions: 1T Sc MS that the
cOncensu5 Of modern scholarship is
that Mark IS the Oldest of the rec
ords," and We proceeded to quote
two standard Encyclopedias and
some II or Is Of the most eminent
OF modern scholars as favoring this
view. BY our showing Father Dreyer
was left without anything TO stand
upon, and now he tries to take refuge
behind the ancients. He says, in eff
feet, 90 to the church Fathers, they
are the authorities. But even here
Father Dreyer gets himself into
deep water 1t was never a question
with them which gospel was the old
est They we're busted with other mat
tiers. 1t was left TO the time of the
Reformation and since to raise and
settle such questions as to the in
accuracy and infallibility of the
Bible. To the ancients the Bible was
history; to the moderns it is the
word of God. They were not hunting
for the Oldest, but for the fullest ac-
counts.
1t seems that the mind demands
an authority-some eminent mind
or institution upon which to ground
its faith When the Reformers
sought to take away the peoples
faith in an inspired church they were
forced to furnish a substitute, and
they hit upon the Bible. But their
makeshift was an advance on the
Catholic idea. The Catholic said
"The Bible is the deposit of sacred
tradition; it has in it errors and
contradictions; 1t does not contain
all the truths communicated by the
founder Of the Christian religion,
and so Christ has raised up an in
Spired man who is at the head of
an inspired institution. This in
Stitution speaking through its in
Spired head will interpret this deposit
Of tradition for you"
The Reformer, on the other hand,
said: Here is an inspired book.
Read and study 1t and you will flnd
the substantial basis for the faith
that is in you. The Protestant
advance is this: The truths OF reli-
gion are thrown open to the reason,
the intelligence and the free inquiry
of each person.
And men read this tradition. They
found 1t incomplete; that it contained
errors and inconsistencies. But at
the same time they grasped this over
whelming idea: Here is a history
of the beginning or a force that has
reVolutionized society and the world.
Back of its inaccuracies and its con-
tradictions are great, overwhelming
truths. We shall find them" And
this Biblical criticism was born. And
it must deal with this deposit OF ira
ditlon in such way that the kernal
OF truth may be rescued from the
wrappings of error AS a natural
consequence one Of the first things to
be determined was: Which of the
records is the oldest? And 1t seems
the concensus of modern scholar
ship that Mark is the oldest. The
ancients knew nothing about critical
examinations of texts and traclngs OF
theological ideas to their sources
They knew nothing OF psychology as
we know it today, or the study OF
comparative religions. And, there
fore, Father Dreyers appeal to the
church Fathers seems to US to be just
trifie peculiar coming as it does
from one who claims to be learned in