THE DISHONESTY OF HIGHER CRITICISM

I have been thinking of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 3:1-2: “What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision?  Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God”.  The oracles of God describes the Old Testament as we have it in the King James Version, from Genesis to Malachi.

The higher critics in their approach to the study of the Bible, lack the competence required to criticize scripture.  Infact, the idea of Biblical criticism is ruled out for one or two reasons.  First, ‘The oracles of God’ were not committed to the higher critics hence, they do not know the inherent rules of interpreting scripture, rules well-known to the Jews because it was to them the Old Testament was committed.  Second, the Higher critics are beyond the reach of the period of biblical revelation.  Third, these ‘Oracle of God’ had been committed.  It is for this reason that every now and then, a discovery is made which confirms the reliability of the account given in the Old Testament.

For instance, in the First century, Jesus, the God-Man confirmed the accuracy of the divisions of the Old Testament as generally accepted by the Jews at that time: “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” (Luke 24:44).  The Jews never accepted the Apocrypha as Scripture, and Jesus confirms that they were right!  It is not… ‘the law of Moses, the prophets, the Psalms, and the Apocrypha!  There were some controversies at that time, but the canonicity of the Old Testament as we have it today, and the authorship of the books were never in doubt.  It is very convenient for the higher critics to cast doubts on the Old Testament today, but had they done so in the first century they would have made themselves ridiculous.  The reason they could make a fool of themselves today and succeed in getting recognition for their stupidity, is attributable to the two thousand years gap that exist between the 21^st century and the first century.  This absurd ignorance is imposed upon them by the long passage of time.   They need only read the gospels in order to keep up to date with the undisputed understanding prevalent at that time.  The Higher critics have questioned the existence of Jonah as a historical figure, yet Jesus and the Jews of His day took it for granted that Jonah existed: ‘…And as Jonah spent three days and nights in the fishes belly, even so shall the son of man spend three days and nights in the bowels of the earth’.  The higher critics question whether Isaiah wrote the book of Isaiah or not.  But no Jew in the first century had such a doubt: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.  And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.  And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because, he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;…” (Luke 4:16-18).  The method of higher criticism is foolhardy, for, who is in a better position to be better informed, the Jews who lived two thousand years ago, or non-Jewish self-acclaimed critics who live in another time and in a different cultural environment?