hey were written or compiled. This line of investigation is almost
thrust upon the Bible student by a comparison of the books of Kings
with the books of Chronicles, which in many portions cover the same
ground; and yet, there are marked differences between the descriptions
of the two.

These are the different phases of criticism. Ordinarily, however, only
two kinds are distinguished: the lower, or textual criticism, and the
higher criticism. The aims of textual criticism are described above.
The higher criticism combines the functions of literary and historical
criticism, while linguistic criticism is considered a part of exegesis
or interpretation, not a separate branch of Bible study. The
legitimacy of textual criticism is universally recognized. Its
importance in a comprehensive study of the Bible is clearly implied in
these words of W. H. Green, a {74} generation ago the best known
defender of the traditional view of the Old Testament: "Its function is
to determine, by a careful examination of all the evidence bearing upon
the case, the condition of the sacred text, the measure of its
correspondence with, or divergence from, the exact language of the
inspired penman, and by means of all available helps to remove the
errors which may have gained admission to it from whatever cause, and
to restore the text to its pristine purity as it came from the hands of
the original writers.... It is not an arbitrary but a judicial
process, based on fixed and intelligible principles and conducted in a
determinate manner, in which all the evidence is diligently collected,
thoroughly sifted, and accurately weighed, and the decision given in
accordance with the ascertained facts."[5]

No exception is taken to linguistic criticism as a legitimate part of
exegesis, but at the mention of higher criticism many good men and
women become greatly disturbed, for they seem to look upon it as a
handmaid of Satan. A few expressions will illustrate the feeling with
which some regard this kind of study: One writer says, "Neither hard
times nor higher criticism nor infidelity ... has any effect upon the
sale of the Divine Scriptures." He evidently places higher criticism
on a par with infidelity. Again: "The so-called higher critics, it is
well known, are constantly {75} trying to shake the faith of the
Christian by telling him that the books of the Bible were not written
by the men whose names are usually given as the human authors."
A