The Fundamentals - Torrey - IV - Chapter 3 (Fallacies of the higher criticism)

Required reading
The Fundamentals edited by R. A. Torrey (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 3 'Fallacies of the higher criticism'.

My summary
Now we are treated to some of the fallacies of higher criticism according to Franklin Johnson.

The fallacies committed by the higher critics concern:
(i) the analysis of the Pentateuch;
(ii) the theory of evolution applied to literature and religion;
(iii) the Bible as a natural book;
(iv) the miracles denied;
(v) the testimony of archaeology denied;
(vi) the Psalms written after the exile;
(vii) Deuteronomy not written by Moses;
(viii) the priestly legislation not enacted until the Exile.

What grabbed me
I think the third fallacy is one of the most important fallacies to note: 'A third fallacy of the higher critics is the doctrine concerning the Scriptures which they teach. If a consistent hypothesis of evolution is made the basis of our religious thinking, the Bible will be regarded as only a product of human nature working in the field of religious literature. It will be merely a natural book. If there are higher critics who recoil from this application of the hypothesis of evolution and who seek to modify it by recognizing some special evidences of the divine in the Bible, the inspiration of which they speak rises but little higher than the providential guidance of the writers. The church doctrine of the full inspiration of the Bible is almost never held by the higher critics of any class, even of the more believing. Here and there we may discover one and another who try to save some fragments of the church doctrine, but they are few and far between, and the salvage to which they cling is so small and poor that it is scarcely worth while. Throughout their ranks the storm of opposition to the supernatural in all its forms is so fierce as to leave little place for the faith of the church that the Bible is the very Word of God to man. But the fallacy of this denial is evident to every believer who reads the Bible with an open mind. He knows by an immediate consciousness that it is the product of the Holy Spirit. As the sheep know the voice of the shepherd, so the mature Christian knows that the Bible speaks with a divine voice. On this ground every Christian can test the value of the higher criticism for himself. The Bible manifests itself to the spiritual perception of the Christian as in the fullest sense human, and in the fullest sense divine. This is true of the Old Testament, as well as of the New.'

The problem with the higher critics is they don't believe they are criticising the word of God.  They start with the presupposition that they are dealing with a human book.

Next week's reading
Read Chapter 4 'The Bible and modern criticism'.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.