Chapter XIII
Have a vivid recollection of a conversation it was my privilege to hold some years ago with one whose words, whether by voice or pen, always command the attention of the public, and who has identified himself to some extent with the Higher Criticism. He took exception to my saying that the truth of Christianity is identified with the Divine authority of the Hebrew Scriptures. The teaching of the Lord Himself, he averred, was its full and sufficient basis; and for that teaching we are dependent only on the Gospels. And on my pressing him he maintained that the Gospels were inspired in a special sense — in the strictest sense, indeed, in which both Jews and Christians have spoken of inspiration — so that even in such prolonged discourses as “‘the Sermon on the Mount,” we have an infallible record of the very words of Christ. “But,” I urged, “if you accept the inspiration 169 of the Gospels — and the denial of it destroys the only reasonable foundation for our faith in Christ — you must accept also the Lord’s teaching as to the Divine authority of the Old Testament. You want me to believe, moreover, that the Gospel of Luke, for example, is fully and strictly inspired, but that the Acts, written by the same Evangelist, is of lower authority and value; and that the Epistles, though written by inspired Apostles, were not inspired in the same sense as the Gospels, two of which are by men who were not apostles at all.”
To this I received no answer. Nor is any answer possible. Every free and fearless thinker will side with me in saying that no compromise of the kind thus proposed is tenable. We must make choice between two positions in this matter. Either the Bible is “God-breathed” (which is the traditional belief of the people of God in all ages), or else its claim to our faith is merely that it consists in the main of the writings of men who received Divine revelations, and therefore that it contains such revelations. Or to state the problem in other words, either the Bible is the Word of God, or it merely contains portions and truths which may in a sense be thus described.
And the question here involved is not affected
Cu. XIII.] INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE 171
by doubts as to the genuineness of some particular book or books. If an» expert examines the contents of my purse and convinces me that one of my coins is spurious, the discovery only serves to give me increased confidence in the value of the rest. This is not in the least what people usually mean who say that the Bible merely contazus the Word of God. They mean that the human element so permeates the mass that no part of it is absolutely Divine. The Divine element, therefore, which is also present, and on account of which they maintain in a sense the Inspiration of the Scriptures, is no guarantee of absolute truth. In fact they give to the word Inspiration ‘a meaning which is in great measure independent of the truth or falsehood of the writings so inspired.”!
Now any person of ordinary intelligence can see that a Bible of this kind affords no ground for faith, We may say “I think,” “I hope;” but to go on and say “I believe,” “I know,” would be unwarrantable. This does not trouble the mere library student; but those who are actively engaged in the Christian ministry, and have practical acquaintance with the spiritual tein
: Prebendary Wace, D.D., Lex Mosaica, p. 610.
needs of men, know well that this half scepticism will not satisfy any who are alive to the great realities of “sin and righteousness and judgment.” For nothing short of certainty will satisfy the awakened soul.
Until recent years, in Britain at least, certainty was found in the Bible regarded as Divinely inspired; and here it was that faith and unbelief measured their distance. But it is a notable test of the growth of “the Christian religion” and the decline of Christianity, that so many of those who give up the Bible are eager to claim a footing in the-camp of faith. The compromise which satisfies some is that to which I have referred, the setting up an inner Canon within the Canon of Scripture, by arbitrarily selecting certain books as being in a special sense inspired. But this, as we have seen, is not even consistent with itself.
The Lux Mundi school, on the other hand, has fallen back on ‘the Church” as the source of authority. In this matter the position of the Church of Rome is that of the Latin fathers in the teaching of the fourth and fifth centuries. It was definitely formulated by Augustine of Hippo, according to whom, as Professor Harnack puts it, “The Church guaranteed the truth of the faith, when the individual could not perceive it.” But
Cu. XIII.] THE “LUX MUNDI” SCHOOL 57s.
behind the Church was an inspired, and therefore infallible, Bible, of which it was the Divinely appointed custodian.t Now this position is at least intelligent, and it may be stated in a way that seems to command approval. Our Courts of Justice are not above the law, but they are the accredited exponents of the law; and it rests with them, and not with private persons, to interpret the law. And so here, the Church does not claim to supplant the Bible, but merely to interpret it authoritatively and infallibly.
And this was, with certain modifications, the position maintained by English High Churchmen of the last generation. But the new school of which the editor of Lux Mundi is the apostle, sets up the Church, not because the private Christian is incompetent to interpret the infallible Bible, but because the Bible, so far from being infallible, is marred by error, and therefore affords no sure basis of faith.
The ancient theory is thus described by Professor Huxley in his last letter in the Zzmes correspondence cited in a previous chapter? : — “The infallible Church guarantees the infallibility wn Iie
: This is reaffirmed in that wonderful document, the Pope’s. Encyclical letter of November 18, 1893. 2 Chap. IX., ante.
of the Bible; and the infallible Bible guarantees the infallibility of the Church. But if the Hindoo who rested the earth-bearing elephant upon a tortoise, and was met by the question, ‘On what then does the tortoise rest?’ had answered, ‘On the elephant,’ the reply would not have very: much assisted the querist.”
But this writer’s “earth-bearing elephant” rests upon a tortoise which rests upon nothing. He clainis belief of the facts recorded in the Gospels, but refuses to guarantee that the Gospels are free from error; and when we demand why we should believe them, the answer we get is, ‘‘To these facts, zz the Church’s name, we claim assent.” We are to accept the facts, he tells us, not only without raising the question whether the Scriptures which record them are inspired, but without exacting an assurance even that they are true.!
I cite these witnesses merely to confirm what every intelligent thinker must recognise, that faith — or, in other words, Christianity — must have some fixed and sure foundation. And this we have first and chiefly in the words of the Lord
t Bishop Gore’s creed on this subject is formulated in Luw Mundi (see p. 340 especially), a work to which in his more recent treatise on the Church he expressly refers his readers. I have more fully discussed the question in The Buddha of Christendom.
Cu. XIII.) OUR LORD’S TESTIMONY 75
Jesus Christ Himself. ‘ Heaven and earth shall pass away,” He declared, “but My words shall not pass away.” //zs words were not “inspired”: they were absolutely Divine: it is the record of them that is inspired. Nor let any one object that here my argument moves in a vicious circle. For these pages are addressed to Christians, and the faith of the Christian can have no other basis than the Gospels, regarded as God-breathed Scripture. If I were writing for sceptics — if the question at issue were the truth of Christianity — my argument would run on different lines.
And from this standpoint it is that we proceed to consider the character of the Bible as a whole. As we have seen, the Hebrew Scriptures are accredited to us by the Lord Himself! His language respecting them is clear and explicit: ‘‘The Scriptures cannot be broken.” ‘ They are they which testify of Me.” ‘It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” And the resurrection brought no change in His teaching. emoszs theories, therefore, will avail nothing here. ‘ Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
* See pp. 67-69, ante.
Himself.” ‘And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me.”! This was the well-known threefold division of the Hebrew Bible — the Law, the Prophets, and the other writings. The Book of Psalms came first in the last division of the Canon, and thus gave its name to the whole. The Bible which the Lord thus unfolded to His disciples was identical with the Old Testament we have in our hands to-day, not one book or chapter less or more, and He thus accredited it as a whole and in every part as being a testimony to Himself.?
But the question remains whether the New Testament has equal claims upon our faith.
Now, first, let us mark the Lord’s assurances and promises to those whom He left as His witnesses upon earth. In view of persecution to come, He said this to them, ‘‘ When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that
t Luke xxiv. 27, 44. 2 See p. 68, ante.
Cu. XIII] VERBAL INSPIRATION 177
speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”! At another time, and in a different connection, He said again, “‘ When they bring you before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, be not anxious how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say.” 2
If “verbal inspiration” is not here implied, will some one tell us how it could be more clearly described or expressed? Or are we to suppose that these men were to utter Divinely given words when defending themselves before the courts, but that they were to sink to some lower level of inspiration when declaring or expounding truth for the guidance of the Church in all ages? ‘‘Hethat heareth you heareth Me,” He said in appointing them to their ministry ;3 and so fully was their testimony to rank with His own, that a worse doom than that of Sodom and Gomorrah shall befall the house or city that refused to “hear their words.” 4
* Matt. x. 19, 20.? Luke xii. 11, 12 (R.V.).
3 The fact that these words have been prostituted by the Church of Rome to cover the gigantic imposture of its claims, must not be allowed to rob us of their true meaning and legitimate application.
4 Matt. x. 14, 15.
Te, ee
At the first great Pentecost, we read, ‘“‘ They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Again I ask, if this be not “verbal inspiration,” what is? But though thus inspired to preach to a Jerusalem crowd, these same men were left to “sanctified mother wit” when they sat down to write the Gospels which were to be the basis of His people’s faith to the end of time!
Here was His promise to them: ‘“The Comforter, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”! If these words were fulfilled, there is an end of the inspiration controversy so far as the New Testament is concerned.
Some writers on Inspiration convey the impression that they regard it as a sort of spiritual electricity or steam, which was not to be wasted by supplying more than absolutely necessary. And judging God by their own mean thoughts, they suppose the supply was so stingy as actually to fail of its purpose altogether. For that
* John xiv. 26.
Cu. XIII.] INSPIRATION OF THE EPISTLES 179 a ae ee ee ee ee
purpose was not to please or satisfy cranks or critics, but to reveal to us with absolute definiteness and certainty the truth of God for faith to rest upon, and the will of God for heart and life to follow and obey. And any inspiration which comes short of this is practically worthless.
Now when we come to the Epistles we must read them in the light of these promises of inspiration and infallible guidance to those who wrote them. We know the estimate in which, under the Lord’s teaching, the Apostle Peter held the Old Testament prophets;! and yet he makes those prophets subordinate to the apostles. ‘‘Unto whom it was revealed,” he writes, “that not unto themselves, but unto us did they minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.”? For they had the presence of the Holy Spirit in a new and peculiar sense, unknown even to the prophets of Jehovah. And
t See p. 51, ante.
* 1 Pet. i. 12, This is to be understood by reference to the Lord’s promise that they would have the presence of the Holy Spirit in a special sense different from that in which He was with the people of God before the ascension (John xiv. 17; xv. 26;
Xvi. 7, 13).
therefore their words were Divine. ‘“The mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it,” was Isaiah’s language respecting the great prophecy of comfort, and he added, ‘the word of our God shall stand for ever.” And these identical words are applied by the apostle to the apostolic preaching. Their word was “the Word of God” by which believing souls were born again to God — that word which “endureth for ever.” 1
If this was not verbal inspiration, what 1 7 But are we to suppose that this enlightenment was limited to Gospel sermons, and denied them when they entered upon the discharge of their highest apostolic functions? 2
And not only does the Apostle Peter place apostolic words on a par with those of the greatest of the Hebrew prophets; he goes further and brackets the Epistles of the Apostle Paul with “the other Scriptures” 3 — those holy writings which “cannot be broken,” which were held to be “the Word of God’ — ‘the oracles. of God.”
t Pet. i. 23-25; Isa. xl. 5-8.
2 The Church of Christendom regards the preaching the Gospel to the world as essentially an apostolic function. But this was precisely the ministry which, after Pentecost, the apostles left to. the body of believers (Acts viii. 1,4. Mark the words, “except.
the apostles.”).
3 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16.
Cu. XIII] THE APOSTLE PAUL’S CLAIM 181
And the Apostle Paul himself, when his authority was questioned in Corinth, wrote such words as these: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”!
~Now. in these pages I am not laying down the law, or defending any ¢heory of inspiration. I am writing merely as a Christian to Christians, and dealing with Scripture as I find it. And I have done so in an unconventional way which will shock some old-fashioned people. At the risk of still further offending them, I will ask this question: ‘If this is not the language of an inspired apostle, and intended to place his Epistle on a par with the very words of His Lord and Master, must we not write him down as either an hysterical fool or an arrogant and profane ecclesiastic?”
And now I ask for special attention to this Apostle’s language in the earlier part of this same Epistle: it is the nearest thing the Bible gives to an explanation of inspiration. ‘“Now,” he writes, ““we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we
* i Cor. Xiv, 37- might know the things that are freely given us by God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”! For the translation of these last words, the Revisers suggest two alternatives.2 But to avoid side issues, let us take the passage as it stands. And I ask, If the apostle had in view the suggestion that inspiration extended only to the “things” he wrote, and not to the words in which he wrote them, could he have met it more definitely?
Not only were his communications about things Divinely revealed, but they were made, not in words such as human wisdom would suggest, but. in words taught him by the Spirit of God. Will some one tell us how “verbal inspiration” could be expressed, if this does not express it? Or does the critic again try to escape by the quibble that this kind of inspiration applied only to apostolic speaking, and not to apostolic wreting?
Not, I repeat, that such inspiration places the Apostle in the position of the Planchette in a
= 1 Cor. 02, 13.? The one is to read combining for “comparing,” in which case the clause means, “combining the things of the Spirit with
the words which the Spirit teaches us to use in regard to them”; and the other is, “interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men.”
Cu. XIII] THE APOCALYPSE 183
spiritualistic séawce — as a sort of animated typewriting machine. In inspiration God uses the mind as well as the hand of man, and He gives His revelation in human words — the language of the agent whom He thus employs.!
I have dealt thus briefly with the Epistles. Of the Apocalypse I need .not speak at all; for all must recognise that if it be not what it claims to be — a Divine revelation — its visions may be dismissed as the lucubration of a disordered brain. And between these alternatives the Christian will not hesitate. It fitly closes the sacred volume. ‘It recapitulates and confirms all the preceding testimony of prophets and apostles. As it refers to the history of God’s kingdom on earth from the Garden of Eden to the reign of David — so it brings before us, in new combinations, and with a light fuller and brighter, the symbolism of Isaiah and Daniel, of Ezekiel and Zechariah. The glorious facts and doctrines revealed in the Gospels and Epistles, are presented here in the most condensed form. Only in the light of its predecessors can this Book be understood. The wonderful and manifold threads laid during many centuries are here connected;
* See pp. 86, 87 ante.
the voices of all previous witnesses are blended together for the last time, in harmony majestic and melodious.”!
“But,” it will be said, “if we come down to the prosaic level of fact, all this is met and answered - by the errors of the New Testament; and it is chiefly in the Gospels — the pivot on which all the rest is made to turn, that these errors will be found.” This claims consideration, and the following chapters shall be devoted to it.
* The words are Adolph Saphir’s.