There are, then, three explanations of the references of Christ to the
authorship of Old Testament books, each one of which seems perfectly
fair, natural, and, above all, scriptural; and each one shows that his
utterances do not finally settle purely literary questions. This
conclusion, since it is in perfect accord with the New Testament, can
in no wise be construed as an insult to the Christ, nor does it affect
in the least the authority of Jesus in matters religious and ethical.
What is said here of the words of Jesus is equally true, with some
slight modifications, of similar New Testament references coming, not
from Jesus directly, but from the authors of the New Testament books.

From the consideration of this question of vital interest we may turn
to another, also of great importance, namely, what is the effect of
critical conclusions upon the belief in the inspiration of the Old
Testament, in the supernatural in its history, and in its authority?
All these questions {99} center in one, for inspiration implies the
presence of a supernatural element, and the authority of the Old
Testament depends upon the reality of its inspiration. Hence the real
question is, Have the conclusions of the higher criticism disproved, or
in any serious way affected, the reality of the inspiration of the Old
Testament writers? This inquiry must be answered with an emphatic
"No." Inspiration does not depend upon the fact that a certain
definite individual is responsible for a writing. A book is inspired
because God is back of it and in it, and not because a certain man
wrote it. Nor does belief in inspiration depend upon the knowledge of
the human author, else how could Christians believe in the inspiration
of the men who wrote books like the Epistle to the Hebrews, the book of
Job, the books of Samuel, and other biblical books whose authors are
not named? Moreover, an inspired book does not lose its inspiration
because it is discovered that the human agent inspired is one different
from the man to whom tradition has been accustomed to assign the book.
Would the laws of the Pentateuch be any less divine if it should be
proved that they were the product of the experience of the chosen
people from the time of Moses to the exile? Would the Psalms cease to
lift us into the presence of God, if it should be demonstrated that
most of them came {100} from a period later than David? Is the book of
Job less majestic and sublime because