D MODERN CRITICISM

No careful observer can doubt that modern criticism has exerted a
marked influence upon the attitude of many Christian people toward the
Bible. Both those in sympathy with new ideas and those opposed to them
frequently speak of the crisis which this criticism has brought about.
"It does seem," says John E. McFadyen, a believer in the methods and
results of modern criticism, "that the Church to-day in all her
branches is face to face with a crisis of the most serious kind."[1]
On the other hand, John Smith, a determined opponent of criticism,
writes concerning the conclusions of the latter: "They conflict with
the profoundest certitudes of the faith, must inevitably alter the
foundation on which from the beginning our holy religion has stood
before the world, and, consequently, so far as a theory can, must
obstruct her mission and abridge her influence."[2] Whether the crisis
is as acute as is here implied or not, there seems to be much concern
among devout believers in the Bible about the bearing of modern
criticism upon the value of the book they dearly love. In the nature
{67} of the case, limitation of space forbids an exhaustive discussion
of this interesting subject here. There are, however, three questions
which are worthy of serious consideration: (1) What is modern
criticism? (2) What are the more important conclusions of criticism
that have secured wide recognition? (3) What is the bearing of these
conclusions, if true, upon the Christian view of the Old Testament?

What, then, is biblical criticism? It is defined by Nash as "the free
study of all the facts,"[3] which definition McFadyen expands so as to
read, "the free and reverent study of all the biblical facts."[4]
Criticism is _study_, which means careful investigation rather than
superficial reading followed by hasty or unfounded conclusions. The
investigation is _free_ in the sense that though it is not
disrespectful to traditional beliefs, it is not prevented by them from
marking out new paths if the facts so demand. It is _reverent_ because
it deals with a book that has played a unique part in the religious
life and thought of many centuries, and has been received as a book in
which the voice of God may be heard. It is primarily a study of the
_facts_ presented by the book, not of theories or speculations, though
in the study of these facts much may be learned from the theories of
the past, and the study may give rise to