By rejecting the testimony of the Scriptures, uniformly and explicitly furnished, to their verbal inspiration, modernists effectively destroy the authority of the Bible.
For it is obvious that writings professing to come from God, and to be dictated by his spirit, and at the same time abounding in false statements, are the forgeries of men.
They are fraudulent human productions - fraudulent, not because they do not utter some truth, but because they do utter some falsehood, while they claim to be wholly from God. Thus it would be an insult to the God of truth to attribute them to him.
It is difficult to see how the higher critics can avoid the consequence of charging Christ himself with a want of veracity in testifying to the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures, and not only to their inspiration, but to the verbal inspiration of all of them, except upon one supposition.
That is, that in accordance with their general position of the fallibility and errancy of all the scriptural writers, they may hold that the evangelists incorrectly reported the words of their Master. It was not he who erred, but they.
Christ's testimony in regard to this matter was reported by the evangelists as one which he was in the habit of uttering, and of employing in solemn and formal argument in vindication of his divine commission, and in refutation of the positions taken by the religious teachers of the people, not as occurring on some exceptional occasion.
Jesus appealed to the inspired Scriptures as the only authority by which both his own claims and those of his adversaries were to be determined.
If the writers of the Gospels have provided the church and the world with an incorrect report of their Master's unequivocal and reiterated teachings in relation to so vitally important a subject (one not of secondary, but of indispensable and controlling value) the result would be unavoidable that their whole history, as well of the facts of Christ's life, death and resurrection, as of His doctrinal teachings, would be liable to doubt and convicted of being undependable. (Adapted from "Discussions of Theological Questions" by John Girardeau.)
For it is obvious that writings professing to come from God, and to be dictated by his spirit, and at the same time abounding in false statements, are the forgeries of men.
They are fraudulent human productions - fraudulent, not because they do not utter some truth, but because they do utter some falsehood, while they claim to be wholly from God. Thus it would be an insult to the God of truth to attribute them to him.
It is difficult to see how the higher critics can avoid the consequence of charging Christ himself with a want of veracity in testifying to the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures, and not only to their inspiration, but to the verbal inspiration of all of them, except upon one supposition.
That is, that in accordance with their general position of the fallibility and errancy of all the scriptural writers, they may hold that the evangelists incorrectly reported the words of their Master. It was not he who erred, but they.
Christ's testimony in regard to this matter was reported by the evangelists as one which he was in the habit of uttering, and of employing in solemn and formal argument in vindication of his divine commission, and in refutation of the positions taken by the religious teachers of the people, not as occurring on some exceptional occasion.
Jesus appealed to the inspired Scriptures as the only authority by which both his own claims and those of his adversaries were to be determined.
If the writers of the Gospels have provided the church and the world with an incorrect report of their Master's unequivocal and reiterated teachings in relation to so vitally important a subject (one not of secondary, but of indispensable and controlling value) the result would be unavoidable that their whole history, as well of the facts of Christ's life, death and resurrection, as of His doctrinal teachings, would be liable to doubt and convicted of being undependable. (Adapted from "Discussions of Theological Questions" by John Girardeau.)
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