The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-03-14

BREW AND OLD TESTAMENT
LITERATURE - HIGHER CRITI-
cISM DID NOT SHAKE HIS
FAITH.
Not only Oxford University but the
realm of Biblical scholarship the
world over is the poorer by the death,
which occurred at Christchurch, OK
ford, on February 26, of the Rev. Sam
uel ROLES Driver, D. D., Regius Pro
lessor of Hebrew.
Canon Driver was native of South
ampton, and was in his sixty-eighth
year. Educated at Winchester and
New College, Oxford, he had bril-
liant collegiate career. He took first
class honors in both the classical
schools, and a second-class in mathe-
mates, but the bent of his mind was
early shown towards those subjects in
which he was later to win a name of
eminence as one of the foremost He
braists of his day. AS long ago as
1866 he won the Pussy and Ellerton
A4ON4O" oOAOAC&A 0h4P0S Wo0 4AOAA1COIL
Hebrew Scholar in 1870; and secured
the Houghton Syriac Prize in 1872.
He was Fellow and Tutor of New Col
lege from 1870 to 1883, and from the
latter date Regius Professor of He
brew in succession to the late DIR.
Pusey.
Old Testament.
Dr. Driver had devoted his life to
the study of Hebrew and the litera-
ture of the Old Testament, and with
regard to these subjects his numerous
| works are classics of the Church. It
was an acknowledgment of his posi-
ton as Hebrew scholar that DR..
Driver was chosen in 1883 to the Re-
gius Professorship, and, of course, for
the same reason, he was appointed in
1876 a member of the Old Testament
Revision Company. The writings of
Canon Driver in his special line of re-
search was a Treatise on the Use
of the Hebrew Tenses," which placed
the study of Hebrew grammar on a
new basis. AS joint author with Mr..
| F. Brown and Mr.. G. A. Briggs, he CO.
operated in producing Hebrew and
English Lexicon of the Old Tesla
ment," which is an invaluable aid to
Biblical research. His other works
| include Isaiah: His Life and Tines
commentaries on Deuteronomy, Joel,
| Amos, Daniel, Exodus, and Genesis
Dre Driver edited that portion of the
Century Bible" dealing with the
Minor Prophets from Nahum to Ma
lachi, and his other important works
are associated with the Books of Job,
Leviticus, and jeremiah. Hastings
Dictionary of the Bible and the En-
cyclopedia Biblica contain articles
from his pen and he was valued
contributor to the theological maya
zines. A highly-esteemed recent work
is the Introduction to the Literature
of the Old Testament" $1,000.
Higher Criticism.
Canon Driver held with his veneer
able contemporary DR.. Cheyne, who
still happily survives, and DIR. Sunday,
also of Oxford, the Lady Margaret
Professor of Divinity, that the Bible
could no more be exempted from re-
search than could the objects of nat
ural science. He asserted, for in
stance, that "The Authorized Version,
translated three hundred years since,
was not adequate either to the scholar
ship or the needs of the present day.
The two main causes of this were the
change in our language, which rem
dered much of the Authorized Yer
sion unintelligible and even mislead-
ing; and the fact that that Version
was now inadequate on account of the
progress of knowledge"
There was, the Canon maintained,
a Divine and a human element in in
spiration: "The doctrine of mechan-
ical, verbal inspiration practically
ignores the human element But the
doctrine of verbal inspiration is an a
priori doctrine: it is taught neither
in any part of the Bible, nor in the
formularies of the Church of England.
The Bible suffers and religion suffers
when claims are made on it's behalf
which it never makes itself, and
which, when examined impartially, are
seen to be in patent contradiction with
the facts"
1t was in this spirit that DR.. Driver
approached the questions raised by
the Higher Criticism, and what is
known on the Continent as Modern
ism. He asserted that, as every I'M
trammelled scholar would admit, the
traditional Hebrew text was in many
places corrupt, and the labors of re-
cent years had placed within the
reach of students better text of the
Old Testament than was available a
generation ago. The general structure
of the books composing the Old Tesla
ment, and the stages by which as a
whole it gradually assumed it's pres
ent form, had in their broader fea-
lures been satisfactorily determined.
"Forty years ago the traditional view
of the origin of the Old Testament
writings was held practically by all
English scholars, and the few who
ventured to question it we're told die
tatorially to stand down. But expert
ence had proved before that repres-
sive measures were powerless to sup
press free inquiry"
On the subject of prophecy he up
| held the view that: "The prophets,
| one and all. stand in an intimate re-