The Old Testament as we have it since before the time of Christ, and the New Testament since the first century after Christ, have remained practically unchanged. Here we have the work of men, whatever may have been their names, who, if they are to be judged by their produc tions, have a right to be called inspired. So much at least is beyond the reach of successful contradiction, but we must recognize also that these books have a history, and in order to understand the Christian Church. we must go back to the New Testament, and there we shall find that these writings partake largely of the thought of the Old Testament, and that they are in a sense the product of that book.
Here we are met with the school called Higher Criticism, and the distinguishing features for which it contends are the emphasis of the doctrine of development, and the changing of the central point of ancient history from Moses to the prophets. The activity of the prophets, however, presupposes the Mosaic system, not only as an historical movement but as a legal foundation for the commonwealth of Israel.
The Bible contains a record of the continuous revelation of God and His dealings with man kind. It gives an illustration of the processes by which God is lifting man upward, and also the method by which the Father has adapted Himself to the partial comprehension of His children in bringing His revelation down within the limits of their understanding.
(1) Archreology. The age preceding that of the prophets is full of interest, and the research of the nineteenth century has brought it to a great extent within the range of our vision. The spade of the explorer and the enthusiasm of scholars who have devoted their lives to the deciphering of cuneiform texts, have given us an inside view of social life, not only in ancient Egypt, but also in the early days of the old As syrian kings. It is not many years since it was claimed that the Assyrian rulers who are spoken of in the Old Testament were purely mythical. But the names have been found graven upon corner stones or they have been deciphered on pages of clay which have been recovered from buried libraries, and lo! we have nearly a com plete list of Assyria's monarchs already verified.
The question has often been asked whether the story of the Deluge is true. But a wider knowledge of history, and a further search into the pages of clay have taught us that every peo ple have their tradition of a great flood, show ing that the survivors of that event handed down the story from one generation to another.
The Assyrian account was found in the library of Asur-bani-pal, after the accumulation of cen turies had been removed, but it was so covered with myth and fable that it might have passed for legend if it had been unsupported by other records.
Early tradition also gives to a greater or less extent the story of Creation and the disobedience of man, but it is only in the Bible that we find the simple history of these things. This book tells us of "the beginning," so far as a knowledge of this beginning pertains to the welfare of man, and so far as it is consistent with a progressive revelation.
The great facts which have been recorded in Hebrew and Christian history have been sus tained by close investigation. These records have been shown to contain truth and not fiction.
(2) Practical Application. But truth is of little value unless it is practically applied, and hence the teachings of the Scriptures could never have won and held their place in human thought unless they had been to a greater or less extent embodied in the lives of those who believed them. Whatever may have been the names of these men there must have been such a character as Moses; there must have been an Abraham and a David, as also there were such men as the prophets.
The late Professor Dillman of Berlin testified as follows : "The books of Moses admit of no explanation except on the of a pre paratory pure type of religion, such as according to Genesis belonged to those fathers; and such a higher form of religion of necessity presup; posed personal agents or standard bearers. (History of the Hebrews, vol. i, p. 240.) These standard bearers were like sentinels along the line of humanity, from the beginning of human history down ti) the followers of the Nazarene, and the witnesses both before and after the Christ arc the embodiment of a Divine revelation, which discloses an unchanging pur pose from the foundation of the world to win men to truth and righteousness.
In the Old Testament we find God making appeals to beings who are capable of moral and intellectual response. In it, as in that later reve lation of Himself, Jesus of Nazareth, we find the mingling of the Divine with the human ele ment—in this, as in the Christ, we have the self witnessing revelation of which the crowning evidence is the response of the human heart.