Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 75:297 (Jan 1918)
Article: German Critics And The Hebrew Bible
Author: T. H. Weir

BSac 75:297 (Jan 1918) p. 70

German Critics And The Hebrew Bible

T. H. Weir

Among the many things which have been tried by the present War and which have been found wanting is the so-called Higher Criticism of the Bible, which, although none of its main features originated in Germany, is yet associated in the minds of most English-speaking people with that country. Nothing could show more clearly how firm a hold that criticism had taken, not only upon the professional scholars both of this country and of America, but upon the general educated reading public as well, than the fact that textbooks dealing with the Biblical books no longer made any pretense of arguing the case for or against this criticism, as had been the custom a few years earlier, although the argument was always conducted with a strong bias in favor of the critics; but the outstanding results of this criticism were taken for granted, and the reader was merely informed that “all the best scholars “had decided the various literary problems in such-and-such a way. He, as a layman in such matters, was not in a position to form a judgment for himself. He had nothing to do but to accept their opinion just as he would that of his doctor or lawyer. This autocratic method of dealing with literary problems was entirely successful, as autocratic methods are apt to be in other spheres than literature, with the result that, not only were the opinions of the critics given out in the more strictly religious circles as demonstrated

BSac 75:297 (Jan 1918) p. 71

facts, but they became part and parcel of the stock in trade of all sorts and descriptions of journalism from the halfpenny newspaper upwards. It never seems to have occurred to any one that, when these writers spoke of “all the best scholars,” they were simply describing themselves; and so they were taken at their own value.

This high-handed manner of treating questions of scholarship naturally did not meet with universal acceptance; but its advocates were in such a majority that any opposition which ventured to raise its head was easily crushed, and the fact that the leading literary journals were on the side of the critics made it difficult for the opposition to find an outlet. Within the last three years, however, men’s views on many matters, and their whole outlook upon life, have changed. The implicit reliance upon human reason as the one infallible guide to truth, which was general before the War, has vanished, and there is a greater willingness to accept and study objective facts. In these circumstances it will not be inopportune to review some of the weak spots in theories accepted by many almost as a religious tradition.

There is one fatal defect which lies at the root of the whole Critical position, and it is this: In ni...