An edition of The Bible, its meaning and supremacy
(1897)
The Bible, its meaning and supremacy
by Frederic William Farrar
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Book Details
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Thoughts of men in the present day necessitate a plain and truthful as well as reverent expression of opinion. Duty of exercising the reason. Views of Butler ; Locke ; Whichcote ; the 'Westminster Confession.' Attacks which are beside the mark. Importance of removing stumbling-blocks from the path of religion. The greater part of this book consists of proofs of the grandeur and supremacy of the Bible. The benefits which resulted from the plain speaking of 'Eternal Hope.' Assailants of the Bible often misstate the doctrine of Christians on the subject of Inspiration. Difficulties of ' working men.' Opinions are not doctrines . Current and all but universal religious opinions may form no part of the Christian Creed. Illustrations : (i) from views of the Atonement; (ii) from views of 'the Double Procession' of the Holy Spirit ; (iii) from the supposed duty of intolerance and persecution. Simplicity of the essential elements of the Christian Faith. The urgent necessity for insisting on 'the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus.' Progress in the apprehension of truth. The things which cannot be shaken and remain. My object is to strengthen the cause of Christianity by separating it from untenable propositions. Truth may be assailed, but will ultimately triumph. 1. The views here stated are those of the Church of England. 2. I am establishing, not attacking, the true authority of Holy Scripture. Peril of mistaken estimates, as stated by Hooker and Chillingworth. True and false claims 1
CHAPTER I
WHAT THE BIBLE IS, AND IS NOT
The Bible not one homogeneous book, but a collection of writings gradually admitted into a varying canon. All Christians alike believe in the supremacy of Scripture ; but every word of it is not superaaturally dictated— Nor infallible. That view has been prolific of disaster. The Bible is a library. Why called 'sacred' and 'holy.' Gradual growth of the conception of 'the Bible' as one book. The word 'Bible.' Gradual formation of the Canon. Philo; Josephus; New Testament writers ; the Talmud, Old Testament, Apocrypha. Uncanonical books once accepted as sacred in the Christian Church. The Homologoumena and Antilegomena. The final test of canonicity was the reason and conscience of Christians. Boldness and independence of Luther. The Old Testament Canon. Ezra. The Scribes; the Rabbis; Rabbi Aqiba. Difficulties about Ecclesiastes, Ezekiel, the Song of Songs. The Law, the Prophets, and the Kethubim. In the New Testament Canon hesitations about the Apocalypse ; the Epistles of Jude ; James ; 2 Peter ; 2, 3 John ; the Epistle to the Hebrews. What is meant by 'the authority of the Church.' The Scotch Confession of 1560 24
CHAPTER II
THE BIBLE REPRESENTS THE REMAINS OF A WIDER LITERATURE
The Bible all that is extant of a much wider literature. The Old Testament represents the selected and fragmentary remains of Hebrew literature. The New Testament represents a selected portion of the earliest Christian literature. Some books tentatively received, finally rejected. The hesitating acceptance of some books as canonical. Interpolations. The New Testament not originally placed on a level with the Old. Papias. Interpolations rejected by critical analysis. Duty of progressive thought. Dr. Arnold. John Robinson. John Goodwin. Bishop Butter. 'Fighting against God' The views of all learned Germans as estimated by Rohnert. Mr. Gladstone quoted 39
CHAPTER III
VARIETY AND UNITY
The Bible exhibits immense variety with essential unity. References of our Lord and the Apostles to the Old Testament. Corrected estimates of the Law in the New Testament. 1. Preciousness of the variety of Scripture. 'Amicta varietatibus.' Everything for some, something for all. Insight into many minds. Characteristics of their diversity. 'As universal as our race, as individual as ourselves.' 'Homo sum' Further illustrations. Influence of the Bible on human history. 2. Unity of the Scriptures, especially in the Revelation of Christ. 'In Vetere Testamente Novum latet; in Novo Vetus patet' The true value and message of Scripture to be derived from its final teaching in the Gospels ; and its true unity is in Christ 47
CHAPTER IV
THE 'ALLEGORICAL METHOD' OF EXEGESIS UNTENABLE
The Bible contains a progressive and gradual revelation. Imperfect enlightenment of some of the Old Testament writers. Defective characters, and partial knowledge. How Christ corrected the Old Testament. Growth of the allegorising method. It was borrowed by Philo from heathen sources. His theory of impassive trance. Philo's manner of treating the Law. Borrowed from the Stoic method of allegorising Homer. Frequent childishness and audacity of the allegorising method. A disastrous legacy of the Jewish Church to Christian exegesis. Connected with a false theory of inspiration. The Talmud ; Aqiba ; Quenstedt ; John Owen ; Burgon. Philo's method continued by Origen. The letter 'rilleth'— what? The Venerable Bede. Sixtus Senensis. Specimens of Philonian allegory. Bishop Wordsworth on the murder of Sisera. Swedenborg. How Socrates and Plato dealt with Homeric myths 60
CHAPTER V
THE BIBLE NOT HOMOGENEOUS IN ITS MORALITY
Varying tones of Scripture. 1. The imprecatory Psalms. 2. The Pentateuch and slavery. 3. Wars of extermination. Israel and the Midianites. Such deeds may be palliated, but cannot be in the abstract defended. 4. Narratives of the Patriarchs. 5. Who tempted David? 6. The immolation of Jephthah's daughter. 7. 'The man after Cod's own heart.' 8. The seven sons of Saul. Heterogeneous records. All incompleteness completed in the revelation of Christ 78
CHAPTER VI
ANTITHESES OF SCRIPTURE
1. Differences between the Law and the Prophets. Ceremonialism and spirituality. 2. Varying points of view, amid substantial unity. 3. Differing standpoints of Apostles. Luther. 4. Heresies about the Old Testament. Marcion. 5. Observable differences of standpoint in the Old Testament. 6. Annulment of the Levitic Law. Luther. R. Baxter. 7. Illustrations : (a) Clean and unclean meats. (6) Hand-washings. (c) Ablutions, (d) Divorce, (e) Sabbatic observances. (f) The Christ-Spirit, not the Elijah-Spirit. Two anecdotes : 1. Renee, Duchess of Ferrara, and Calvin. 2. Balfour of Burley and the minister. Various misuse and perversions of the Bible. No argument against its supremacy 92
CHAPTER VII
'VERBAL DICTATION' AN UNTRUE AND UNSPIRITUAL HYPOTHESIS
The theory in opposition to all evidence. Unknown till after the Reformation. The 'Helvetic Confession' of 1675. Calovius. Other post-Reformation dogmatists and their exaggerated phrases. 1. Irreverence of the dogma. 2. Its uselessness. 3. Scriptural proofs of indifference to verbal reproduction, i. Old Testament variations, ii. Record of the words of Christ, iii. St. Luke's method of composition, iv. Quotations of the Apostles. The Septuagint. v. Quotations of uncertain origin, vi. Conclusion 104
CHAPTER VIII
‘PLENARY INSPIRATION'
The word 'inspiration' is excessively vague and undefined. 1. It is not limited to the Scriptures. Instances of the use of the word in English literature. 2. The Church has never defined its character, or laid down its limitations. In our Prayer Book it is always used of the ordinary influences of the Holy Spirit on the minds of man. Milton. 3. Scripture uses it in the same sense. Never confused with supernatural infallibility. 4. Widely divergent conceptions of inspiration. i. The mechanical theory, ii. The dynamic theory. iii. The theory of special inspiration in essentials only iv. The theory of general inspiration. 5. Supernatural dictation of Scripture no part of the Christian Faith. 6. Scripture ascribes general or special inspiration to men whom it depicts as still erring and imperfect. 7. Slavishly literal exaggeration of isolated general expressions. 8. Evil done by indeterminate words. 9. Inspiration does not exclude fallibility in non-essentials. Dr. Pope. Archbishop Temple. Dean Bagot. 10. The word 'inspiration' too vague for dogmatic purposes. 11. The Bible itself shows how widely variant must be the conceptions of 'inspiration.' 12. The correction of exaggerated notions lies on the surface of the facts. 13. Faithlessness of the notion that we have nothing but the letter of a book on which to rely. What Scripture itself teaches on this subject. 14. Christ is ever with us, and God has not ceased to speak. A Haggadah of the Rabbis 114
CHAPTER IX
THE HIGHER CRITICISM
Needless panic about the Higher Criticism. 1. What is meant by it. 2. The plain duty of close examination. 3. Obvious facts, (a) The Bible, to the vast majority, only accessible in translations. (b) All translations more or less inadequate. (c) No translation free from serious errors, (d) The exact text not always ascertainable. (e) The Bible retains all the forms of a human literature. (f) Various interpretations. (g) The Bible itself necessitates criticism. (h) Its gradual perfectionment. 4. These facts inevitably admitted by the most earnest apologists. Mr. Gladstone. 5. Inquiry therefore an imperative obligation. 6. And the results of inquiry must not be hushed up. 7. The Bible must be humanly interpreted. 8. No truth of religion in the slightest degree affected. 9. The authority of Christ and His allusions to Scripture, when rightly interpreted, absolutely ratify these conclusions. 10. Christ and the Prophets. Conclusions 133
CHAPTER X
THE BIBLE CONTAINS THE WORD OF GOD
The formula of the Church is 'Scriptura continet verbum Dei.' Cartwright's seven arguments that 'the Bible is the word of God.' They are only tenable when applied to the essential revelation of Scripture. Luther never adopted the erroneous formula. The Scriptures as a whole never claim to be 'the word of God' The phrase never once applied to the Bible as a whole, either in the Old or the New Testament. The expressions of Scripture itself. The teaching of the Universal Church on this subject has always been in accord with that of Scripture itself. John of Damascus. Doctrine of the Anglican Church. The difference between vague, rhetorical, general phrases and exact definition. The rigid identification of all Scripture with the word of God hardly earlier than 1550, and it led to monstrous excesses. 'Complectitur' not 'est' throughout our formula. Christ alone is 'the Word of God 142
CHAPTER XI
BIBLICAL INFALLIBILITY
Sufficiency of Scripture for all things necessary to salvation. Dangers which arose from the notion that it was in every word divinely inerrant. False inferences. Infallibility not granted to man except in things necessary to salvation. 1. No two great branches of the Church in rigid accord as to what is the Bible. Primitive indeterminateness of the Canon. The Apocrypha. The Syrian Canon. 2. No agreement as to the authoritative text. In the Romish Church, the Vulgate. In the Greek Church, the Septuagint. In the Anglican Church, the original languages. 3. No agreement as to any rule of interpretation. The Romish Church. The Reformed Churches. The Greek Church. Thus no agreement as to what is infallible. The supposed infallibility of the letter has been a sterile as well as a dangerous dogma. Immense divergencies of deduction from the 'infallible letter.' Lucidity, of Scripture. 'Unhappy divisions' Irreconcilability of conclusions and inferences. Hence the infallibility, if existent, has proved to be unavailable. Masses of exegetic material now wholly obsolete 150
CHAPTER XII
DANGEROUS RESULTS OF THE 'SUPERNATURAL DICTATION' THEORY Judged by its fruits. The Bible and Science. Ignorant and wicked persecutions of scientists. J. S. Mill. History of Science. Absurdity of schemes which professed to be literally drawn from Scripture. Cosmas, Pfeiffer, Whiston, and Burnet; Coleridge quoted, i. Roger Bacon, ii. Galileo. Kepler, iii. Buffon. iv. The Geologists, v. Mr. Darwin. vi. The objects of Gen. i. It corrects the agelong errors of millions as to (i) Polytheism, (ii) Dualism, (iii) Pantheism. (iv) The Eternity of Matter, (v) Atheism. Nothing but casuistry and incongruity have resulted from the attempt to transfer it from the region of religious faith to that of rigidly exact science 158
CHAPTER XIII
THE BIBLE NOT THE ONLY SOURCE PROM WHICH WE CAN LEARN OF GOD
The loose expression of Chillingworth. Definitions of Religion. In none of these senses can the Bible be a religion. Other sources whence we may ascertain the will of God. 1. History. 2. Biography. 3. Nature. Teachings of Nature. 4. Conscience. God revealed to the Gentiles, and to all human souls. Bishop Een on Socrates. The history of Religion. The Patriarchs. The Bible a very gradual gift to man. John Wallis 170
CHAPTER XIV
MISINTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. TRUE AND FALSE VIEWS OF SCRIPTURE
1. Wars of Extermination. Theories in explanation of the difficulty. Dr. Arnold. Canon Mozley. Bishop Butler. Spirit of tenderness in the Mosaic Law. The Word of God to us. 2. Veracity. Innocent HI. and the Albigensian Crusades. 3. Witchcraft. Frightful cruelties. Advance of knowledge. 4. Religious persecution . Founded on gross perversion of texts. Repudiated by the early Christians. Lactantius. Tertullian. St. Ambrose. St. Martin. Athanasius and other Fathers. Alva and Pius V. Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Gregory XIII. Cardinal Orsino. Inexcusable cruelties. 5. Passive obedience. The Church of England. 6. Assassination of Kings. 7. Continuous and varied perversion of Scripture 182
CHAPTER XV
FURTHER MISINTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE
Perversion of Scripture not to be charged against Scripture. Abuse of other good gifts of God. 1. Such perversion is easily avoidable. 2. The Bible itself the protest against the curses caused by its perversion. Instances of ignorant misuse. Penance. Mediaeval ignorance. Duty of the exercise of the reason and conscience. Attempt to keep vernacular Bibles from the people. Wycliffe. Popes and the Council of Trent. Various authorities quoted. Conclusion. The Bible must be judged as a whole, and not in the light of false human theories. Human perversions and humanly invented theories have endangered the true majesty and authority of Scripture 204
CHAPTER XVI
THE WRESTING OF TEXTS
The Bible not a congeries of 'texts.' Misuse of 'texts.' Characteristics of Biblical language. Endless building of pyramids on their apex. Exorbitant inferences. Origin of the division of the Bible into sections and texts. Multiplication of errors. Tyndale quoted. 'The Bible says.' 1. 'Our vile body.' 2. Instance quoted by St. Augustine. 3. Papal misuse. 4. 'The ever-widening spiral ergo from the narrow aperture of single texts.' 'On this rock.' 5. Literalism. 'The power of the keys.' 'Binding and loosing.' 6. 'This is my body.' 7. 'Touch not; taste not; handle not.' 8. 'Eternal torments.' 9. 'Hell fire.' Rule of the Rabbis. St. Augustine. The 'Imitatio Chris ti.' St. Chrysostom. Wesley 218
CHAPTER XVII
SCRIPTURE DIFFICULTIES
Charges against the Bible. I. Coarse stories and phrases, i. The story of Lot. Its real meaning, ii. The story of Hosea. Its true explanation. II. Stupendous violations of the laws of Nature. No question as to duly attested miracles. i. Story of the Fall. ii. The Tower of Babel. III. The story of Balaam. Its real significance and grandeur. IV. The sun standing still. The narrative prosaically misunderstood. V. The story of Jonah. Its unique grandeur and real significance. The noblest specimen of Jewish Haggadah. Emblem of the whale. Parallel passages. Miserable littleness of the Prophet exposed in the narrative. A unique and deeply needed lesson to the Jews and to all. Incident of the whale. Real bearing of our Lord's reference to the story of Jonah. Analogous references in the New Testament 235
CHAPTER XVIII
SUPREMACY OF THE BIBLE
Hosts of unsuspected witnesses to the transcendent authority and preciousness of the Scriptures. Mighty and universal influence which they have exercised on all that is greatest in human life and literature. In them is all the best wisdom of the world. I. A pleiad of varied testimonies, i. Cardinal Newman. ii. Heinrich Heine, iii. Theodore Parker, iv. Heinrich von Ewald. v. Ernest Renan, vi. Professor Huxley, vii. Matthew Arnold. II. Second group of testimonies. i. F. W. Faber, ii. Rousseau, iii. Lessing, iv. Goethe, v. Emerson, vi. Alfred de Musset, vii. Kuenen. viii. Faraday. HE. Testimonies of great writers, i. Hooker, ii. Milton, iii. The Translators of 1611. iv. Spenser, v. Bacon, vi. George Herbert, vii. George Wither, viii. Izaak Walton, ix. Sir I. Newton, x. Other English writers, xi. Sir W. Jones, xii. Cowper. xiii. Collins. xiv. John Wesley, xv. Coleridge, xvi. Sir Walter Scott, xvii. Lord Macaulay, xviii. Charles Dickens, xix. Thomas Carlyle, xx. John Ruskin. xxi. Tennyson and Browning, xxii. J. A. Froude. xxiii. Charles Reade. xxiv. R. L. Stevenson, xxv. Hall Caine, xxvi. J. H. Green. IV. Testimonies of statesmen and rulers, i. Louis the Ninth, ii. Henry the Sixth, iii. John the Second of Castile. iv. Alonso the Fifth of Aragon, y. Napoleon I. vi. King Edward the Sixth, vii. Lord Bacon, viii. John Selden. ix. Sir Matthew Hale. x. Judge Blackstone. xi. Edmund Burke, xii. William Wilberforce. xiii. Mr. Gladstone. V. American statesmen and writers, i. President J. Quincy Adams, ii. President Andrew Jackson, iii. Senator W. B. Leigh, iv. Daniel Webster, v. Secretary Seward, vi. President U. S. Grant, vii. William Lloyd Garrison, viii. Mr. Dana. ix. Charles Dudley Warner, x. Walt Whitman, xi. George Peabody 260
CHAPTER XIX
THE BIBLE AND INDIVIDUAL SOULS.
Significant moments in life. The Bible a Urim 'ardent with gems oracular.' i. St. Augustine, ii. Martin Luther, iii. St. Francis Xavier, iv. Dr. Livingstone. Endless proofs of the transcendent power of Scripture over the soul 291
CHAPTER XX
THE BIBLE THE CHIEF SOURCE OF HUMAN CONSOLATION
The Sultan and the Vizier. Peace amid unrest. 'John Inglesant' quoted. Contentini fuoco. 1. Joy amid affliction illustrated by career of St. Paul. 2. The Martyrs. 3. Even the young. 4. St. Perpetua. 5. Savonarola. 6. John Huss. 7. Margaret Wilson. 8. Scotch martyrs. 9. An incident in the Indian Mutiny. 10. Captain Allen Francis Gardiner. 11. The earthquake at Manilla. 12. The young soldier 298
CHAPTER XXI
SPECIAL CONSOLATIONS OF SCRIPTURE
Life's troubles. Shakespeare's experience. 1. Bereavement. 2. Severe sickness. Father Damien. 3. Everyday anxieties. 4. Envy and detraction. 5. Loss of all things. Dr. Duff. 6. Public and private calamity. Queen Louise. 7. Religious despondency. J. Banyan. Conclusion 310
CHAPTER XXII
THE BIBLE AND THE NATIONS
1. The Jews. 2. The Goths. 3. Germany. 4. England. 5. America. 6. Tahiti. 7. New Zealand. 8. North American Indians. 9. Japan. 10. The story of Pitcairn's Island 320
CHAPTER XXIII
CONCLUSION
Last words. Mr. Ruskin on the Table of Contents of the Bible. Instructiveness of the Bible. Its universal adaptability. One, yet manifold. Must be truly possessed. In what spirit it is to be read. Archbishop Usher. Glow-worm lights. The Psalms. Tet even the Psalms surpassed in preciousness by the New Testament. The reality and intensity of Inspiration shown by its power for the conversion of human souls 330
Index 339
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