The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-04-19
Continued from pages
HIGHER CRITICISM OF BOOKS OF
MOSES.

MOSES.
stories of miracles, and no one can
tell what the real historical facts
were. AS De Wette's fame increased
after the invention of this new the
ory," he was appointed professor at
Heidelberg in 1907, and in 1910 pro-
fessor in the new University of Ber-
lin. Now his biblical light could shine
over northern Germany, and his the
DRY, that the miracles of the Bible
are simply myths written down long
after the events occurred, was readily
accepted in inf1del circles. AS a
natural consequence, it was denied
that Moses ever wrote the so-called
Books of Moses and with this denial
the historical character of the Penta-
touch was given up.
Recent Discoveries Then Unknown
A circumstance which greatly aided
the spread of these views was, that
in De Wette's time the more recent
discoveries in Egypt, Assyria and
Babylonia were not known. The Bible
and Herodotus were then the main
historical authorities, and the impress.
sion was general that, at the supposed
time of Moses, writing was little known
and if it had been known, there
would not have been any use for him
to write for the Israelites, who were
supposed to be, at that time, semi
savage, illiterate nomads.
Thus, De Wette furnished one his
torical foundation" for the infidel
higher criticism. Another was want
ed and this was supplied by William
Vatke, a follower of Hegel, who had
thrown Christianity overheard and re
constructed in his imagination uni
verse of his own, including philosophy
history and religion. Long before
Darwinism had been heard of, Hegel
believed in theory of evolution, and
Vatke applied this theory to the ex
PLANTATION of the gradual rise and per
lection of the religion of Israel.
Evolution of Religion of Israel.
To him it was plain, according tc
his new theory" that the Original
religion of Israel was nothing but
general Semitic paganism, from which
was gradually evolved the religion Of
the times of David and Solomon. This
was perfected by the later prophets
and finally reached it's highest develop
ment during and after the time of the
Babylonian exile, about five hundred
years before Christ, or nine hundred
years after Moses. This new theory
has remained to the present day the
great chronometer of the infidel Bible
critics. All one has to do to learr
the date of any part of the so-calleG
Books of Moses is to consider 'tht
stage of development of religion indi
Gated In this way the higher critics
imagine they have discovered that the
religion of Israel has passed through
the following stages of evolution"
l. The primitive state of belief il
animism, or the worship of stones
wells, trees, pillars, etc., in which
spirits were believed to reside; 2
Polytheism, or the belief in man.
gods; 8. The selection and worship
of tribal God who was for the Israel
ties, Jehovah, the storm god of Noun
Sinai; 4. Gradually, the Israelites be
lieved that Jehovah was greater thai
the tribal gods of other people; 5
Then they believed that he was thu
only god, but still something like ;
big man, who could walk, etc.; G
Gradually, he was also believed t.
have made things generally; Z. Afte
| further development this god, O
Jehovah, was also believed to rewart
the good and punish the wicked; s
Finally, the prophets gradually evolved
the highest ideas of a spiritual god
all-present, all-powerful, adjust, ant
this idea was fully developed about thu
time of the Babylonian exile, or soo1
thereafter, that is, about five hundred
years before Christ, and nine hundret
years after Moses.
Of course, no intelligent, common
sense reader of the Books of Nose
will find any such nonsense in them
but the infidel Bible critics needle,
such historical assumptions to en-
able them to build up their card-hous
of higher criticism" Hence, the twt
historical stills, resting on nothing
but bold assertions, on which the in
fidel higher criticism of the Book
of Moses is built, are: First, tn
Books of Moses were written severa
centuries after Moses. And, secondly
to find out the date when the differen
parts of them were written, just mari
the stage of development of religion
indicated in the various parts of thes
books.
Books of Moses Compilation.
To make their theories still NOR,
plausible, these higher critics dissecte,
the Books of Moses into various parts
just as it suited their preconceive,
views, selected some words or phrases
here and there, separated or com
bined passages so as to fit them int,
their preconceived whims, and thel
proclaimed, See. how admirably al
fits into our theories"
The scientific methods" of thes
higher critics consist in gratuitousl
assuming from the start what they tr
to prove afterwards. Therefore, W
need not be surprised that they al
rived at the following results:
The ar,-nallad Rnnks nf Mnan