The Prophets and the Promise by Willis J. Beecher

THE PROPHETS AND THE

PROMISE

WILLIS JUDSON BEECHER

Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt at Gordon College 2005

1905 by Thomas Y. Crowell, New York.

PREFACE

IN part the Stone lectures as delivered were a selec-

tion from the materials of this volume, and in part the

volume is an expansion of the lectures. It is a product

of studies, accumulating during many years, rather than

a predirected discussion of a subject, but I hope that it

will not be found deficient in logical coherence.

The presentation it makes is essentially a restatement

of the Christian tradition that was supreme fifty years

ago, but a restatement with differences so numerous

and important that it will probably be regarded, by men

who do not think things through, as an attack on that

tradition. If what I have said makes that impression

on any one, and if he regards the matter as of sufficient

importance, I ask him to consider it more carefully. I

have tried to make my search a search for the truth,

without undue solicitude as to whether its results are

orthodox; but it seems to me that my conclusions are

simply the old orthodoxy, to some extent transposed into

the forms of modern thought, and with some new ele-

ments introduced by widening the field of the induction.

It follows, of course, that my position is antagonistic

to that of the men who attack the older tradition. But

I have tried not to be polemic. I have tried to give

due consideration to the views of the men with whom

I differ. Where practicable, I have preferred the

broader statements, in which we are in agreement, to

the narrower ones that would emphasize our differences.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY

PAGE

Scope of the work 3

I. Sources. The scriptures as a source. Direct study versus

general reading. Is the testimony credible? Direct examination

versus cross-examination. Dependence on critical questions. The

provisionally historical point of view. Evidence tested by use 4

II. Interpreting the sources. Avoid eisegesis. Eisegesis of

Christian doctrine. Of negative assumptions. Of theories of reli-

gion. Of particular schemes of Comparative Religion. A true

method 9

III. Points concerning the treatment. Outline. Certain matters

of detail 15

PART I

THE PROPHETS

CHAPTER II

TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING THE PROPHETS

Prophet. Nabhi and its cognates. Hhozeh and its cognates.

Roeh and its cognates. The uses of raah and hhazah. Man of

God. Word of Yahaweh. Saith Yahaweh. Man of the Spirit.

Massa. Hittiph. Metaphorical terms 21

Terms used at all dates. Interchangeable as to the person de-

noted. Three degrees of extension. Raving 32

CHAPTER III

THE EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE PROPHETS

Introductory. The subject attractive. Division into periods 36

I. Prophecy in the times before Samuel. Before Abraham.

The patriarchs as prophets. Prophecy in the times of Moses and

vii

viii CONTENTS

PAGE

Joshua. In the times of the Judges. The dearth of prophecy in the

time of Eli 38

II. Prophecy in the times of Samuel and later. First period,

that of Samuel, David, and Nathan : the great names, the organ-

izations, the terms that are used. Second period, from the disrup-

tion to Elisha: distinguished prophets, "the sons of the prophets,"

false prophets, the use of terms. Third period, that of Amos and

Isaiah: the great prophets, the numbers of the prophets true and

false, the use of terms. Fourth period, that of Jeremiah and others:

the great names, the many prophets true and false. Fifth period,

the exilian prophets : the great names and the many prophets true

and false. Sixth period, the postexilian prophets: the great names

and the many other prophets. The cessation of prophecy 47

CHAPTER IV

THE PROPHET. A CITIZEN WITH A MESSAGE

The question. How affected by one's critical position 66

I. External appearance of the prophet. Baseless current ideas.

Unearthly phenomena absent. Was there a prophetic costume?

The facts significant even if negative. Did the prophets rave?

The prophets long-lived 67

II. The organizations of the prophets. Samuel's "companies."

The Naioth institution. "The sons of the prophets" 76

III. The so-called prophetic order. Holy orders. The prophets

a succession. They had no priestly character. Was the prophet a

graduate? Ordination. How one became a prophet 80

The prophet especially a manly man. The absence of insignia

noteworthy 85

CHAPTER V

THE FUNCTIONS OF A PROPHET—NATURALISTIC

AND SUPERNATURALISTIC

Introductory. Guarding against mistaken assumptions. The

name indicates the function. Passages that outline the prophetic

function 88

I. Naturalistic functions. They were public men. Jeremiah as

a statesman. Isaiah and Hosea as statesmen. Prophetic ideal of

a reunited Israel. Elijah and Elisha as statesmen. The prophets

were reformers. Some of their reforms. They were preachers of

CONTENTS ix

PAGE

good tidings. They were literary men. Certain points need to be

guarded. Different grades and kinds of prophets. The prophet

both local and cosmopolitan. The sense in which devout persons

or great leaders are prophets 93

II. Supernaturalistic functions. The prophets claim them.

Working of miracles, disclosing of secrets, prediction, the giving

of torah, the messianic forecast. Revealers of the monotheism of

Yahaweh 105

CHAPTER VI

THE PROPHET'S MESSAGE

I. How given to him. The source of his inspiration is the Spirit

of Yahaweh. Utterances inspired by the Spirit. Deeds inspired

by the Spirit. Micaiah's lying Spirit. The nature of the Spirit of

Yahaweh. The modes in which the prophet received his message.

Classification of them. Dreams. The interpreting of dreams.

Picture-vision. Visions of insight. Hhazah versus raah. Vision

other than by sense-images. Theophany. Its forms. The Angel.

Theophany versus picture-vision. The notable absence of artificial

excitation 110

II. How uttered by him. Prophetic object lessons. Types.

No double meanings. Manifold fulfilment. Generic prophecy.

The art of persuasive speech 125

CHAPTER VII

THE PROPHET AS A GIVER OF TORAH AND

WRITER OF SCRIPTURE

General statements 133

I. The term "law" in later writings. Current use. Use in

Jewish literature, later and earlier. In the New Testament. Ira

the Apocrypha 134

II. The term "law" in the Old Testament. Derivation of torah

and horah. Torah is from Deity. Is authoritative. Revealed

through prophets. Guarded and administered by. priests. Inter-

preted by both. No separate priestly torah. Its forms. Oral or

written. A particular revelation. An aggregate. The noun used

abstractly. The known and definite aggregate. Some section of

the aggregate 139

x CONTENTS

PAGE

The nature of the torah-aggregate. Limitations of the term.

Examination of instances. From earlier records of the Mosaic

times. From Deuteronomy and the writings that presuppose it.

From the earlier prophetic books. The torah not primarily the

pentateuch. Law and Prophets and Writings from the first. A

separate pentateuch? The torah and the Old Testament. Some

sources were torah and others not. Five torah-producing periods.

Not three canons. Later emergence of the threefold division 155

III. The prophets as writers of scripture. As bringers of torah.

Their authority the highest. All scripture equally of prophetic

authority 168

PART II

THE PROMISE

CHAPTER VIII

THE PROMISE–DOCTRINE AS TAUGHT IN THE NEW

TESTAMENT

Introductory. The Christian messianic idea distinctive. Mes-

sianic prediction, prophecy, doctrine. The proposition 175

I. The New Testament claim. That there is one promise. The

promise to Abraham. Consisting of many promises. The theme of

the whole Old Testament. Pervading all New Testament thought 179

II. The use made of the claim. The promise eternally operative

and irrevocable. Jesus Christ its culminating fulfilment. The gen-

tiles share in the benefit of it. It underlies the great doctrines of

the gospel: the kingdom, immortality, the Holy Ghost, redemption

from sin 185

Concluding statements. Recapitulation. A Christocentric theology 192

CHAPTER IX

THE PROMISE AS GIVEN TO THE PATRIARCHS

Outline of treatment. Pre-Abrahamic passages 195

I. The promise as made. Earliest statement. Its subordinate

items. The principal item emphasized. Climacteric order. Five

times repeated. The name Abraham. Seed. Covenants. Pecul-

iar people. The promise eternally operative. This emphasized.

Therefore of progressive fulfilment. The seed a continuing unit 197

CONTENTS xi

PAGE

II. Problems concerning the promise. How affected by critical

theories. What is true according to all theories. The contem-

porary understanding of the promise. In what sense they under-

stood it to be predictive. Its value as practical doctrine 207

CHAPTER X

THE PROMISE AS RENEWED TO ISRAEL AND TO

DAVID

I. For the times of the exodus. Israel Yahaweh's people

Yahaweh's son. Separative institutions. For eternity. Irrevocable

even for sin. Rest. Has mankind a share in this? That all

may know Yahaweh. "My own, out of all the peoples." A king-

dom of priests. Continuity with the patriarchal revelation. Con-

sistent with the treatment of Amalek and the Canaanite. Critical

point of view. Contemporary interpretation 217

II. For the times of David. 2 Samuel vii. David's house. His

seed. The temple builder. Line of kings. An eternal kingdom.

Irrevocable even for sin. In continuation with the promise to

Abraham and Israel, and therefore for mankind. The rest promise.

"To thee for a people." "One nation in the earth." Yahaweh's

son. The torah of mankind. Critical views. Contemporary in-

terpretation 228

CHAPTER XI

THE PROMISE–DOCTRINE OF THE PROPHETS AND

PSALMISTS

Introductory. Recapitulation. A new phase. The messianic

dogma. Its homiletical presentation 241

I. Modes of expressing it. The predictive passages. A sermon

text or a proof text. Repeating the old phrases. Amplifying them.

Psalm lxxxix. Celebration songs. Technical terms and collateral

lines. Presupposition oftener than open statement 243

II. The matters which they emphasize. The three promises the

same. The promise cosmopolitan. The temple for the nations.

Israel for the nations. The promise for eternity and irrevocable.

Modes of thinking that it created. Israel as the people of the

promise. Mediatorial suffering 252

Critical questions 261

xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER XII

MESSIANIC TERMS. THE SERVANT

PAGE

Introductory. Recapitulation. Rise of technical terms. "Ser-

vant" the most conspicuous term. Isaiah xl—lxvi 263

I. Two auxiliary matters. First, national personality in the

Hebrew. Second, presuppositions of the promise history 265

II. The Servant. Outline. Instances in which the Servant is

said to be Israel. Interpreting the instances. The promise point

of view. The Israel of the promise. Instances that are less explicit.

Servants. The Servant speaking in the first person. Israel's mis-

sion to himself. Isaiah xlii. 1—4. Isaiah lii. i3-liii. Mediatorial

sufferings 270

III. Servant a representative term. Two one-sided interpre-

tations. The true interpretation. Universalness. A glimpse at the

fulfilments 285

CHAPTER XIII

MESSIANIC TERMS. THE KINGDOM AND ITS

ANOINTED KING

I. The kingdom. In the earliest times. The time of Eli. From

David onward. In the psalms and prophecies. Yahaweh's king-

dom. Universal peace. Independent of disputed dates. A king-

dom of influence 289

II. The anointed king. The words "anoint," "anointed."

Correct form of the question. The Messiah as a coming person.

Transition to the New Testament idea 298

III. The eschatological trend. The latter days. The day of

Yahaweh. That day. History of the phrase. Exodus. Joel. Oba-

diah, Amos, and others. Always impending. The New Testament

presentation 304

CHAPTER XIV

MESSIANIC TERMS. YAHAWEH'S HHASIDH. OTHER

TERMS

I. Hhasidh. Its derivation and meaning. Outline of instances.

Yahaweh as hhasidh. The hhasidhim are Israelites as people of

the promise. Not a sect. Israel a hhasidh nation. Hhasidh as

equivalent to Anointed one. The instances where the readings

vary. Summary. The Asideans. In the New Testament 313

CONTENTS xiii

PAGE

II. The Chosen one. Meshullam. The Called one. Jeshurun.

Yahaweh's Son. Sons of promise. The virgin mother. The

Branch. Netser. Nagidh, that is, Regent. "My Lord" in

Psalm cx 329

The common characteristics of the messianic terms 342

CHAPTER XV

COLLATERAL LINES OF PROMISE-DOCTRINE

Introductory. Recapitulation. The Person of the promise. That

in him which is extraordinary. Genesis xlix. to. Psalm cx. To

what extent a reality. A nucleus for doctrine. Both typical and

antitypal 344

I. The prophets themselves types of the Person of the promise.

Deuteronomy xviii 350

II. The theophanic Angel in his relations to the promise. In

the earliest times. At the exodus. In later times. In Malachi 352

III. Israel's institutions as typical of the promise. The ark and

the mercy seat. The sacred year. Some worshippers had insight.

Israel's priesthood. Victim and priest 357

IV. Other matters. Persons or objects as types. Particular

passages. In fine, almost all Old Testament details 361

CHAPTER XVI

MESSIANIC EXPECTATION AND FULFILMENT

I. The expectation in the time, of Jesus. Sources. A temporal

deliverer? More adequate statement. The promise-doctrine

known. Not a Pauline view merely. The kingdom expected.

And its Anointed king. Heir of David. But many unsettled

points. There were spiritual expectations. Especially of redemp-

tion from sin. False messiahs 365

II. How the promise has been fulfilled. As a promise, and not

mere prediction. An eternal fulfilment necessarily cumulative.

National and cosmopolitan and through a Person. In what sense

may Jesus be the fulfilment? A summary of the fulfilling facts.

Exclusive Jewish interpretation. Exclusive Christian interpretation.

The true Jewish-Christian interpretation. Fulfilment in the ethnical

Israel, in the religions of Yahaweh, in Christ 375

xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER XVII

THE APOLOGETIC VALUE OF PROPHECY

PAGE

Introductory. The old argument. Need of restatement. Our

conclusions thus far provisional; are they true ? Theistic pre-

suppositions 387

I. Recapitulation. The prophet as we have found him. Pre-

diction as we have found it. Messianic doctrine as we have found

it. The gospel in the Old Testament as we have found it 391

II. The argument. From the presentment of the prophet. The

biblical ideal a true ideal. Apologetic bearings. Its concept of

divine revelation. From the presentment of the national ideal.

The bearing of critical theories. The significance of the ideal.

How is it to be accounted for? A contrasting ideal. The pro-

phetic mode of presentation. From historical verisimilitude. Self-

consistency. The promise-doctrine as a solution of difficulties.

Credibility. Unmiraculous events. Miraculous events. Intelligible

continuity. Bearings in the argument. From fulfilled prediction.

Has the promise been kept? The thing promised exceptional.

Fulfilled in the secular history of Israel. Eternal fulfilment? Media-

torial suffering. The argument not trivial. Fulfilled in the three

religions of Yahaweh. Their civilizational results. Their spiritual

results. Fulfilled in the person of Jesus. A futile objection. No

need that Apologetics surrender historical fact 394

THE PROPHETS AND THE

PROMISE

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY

THE prophets of Israel: what manner of men they

were, their functions, naturalistic or supernaturalistic,

how their messages were given to them and how uttered

by them, their part in the writing of the scriptures, the

doctrine they taught concerning Israel's peculiar rela-

tions to Deity and to mankind, the messianic kingdom

they heralded and its king, and the value of their mis-

sion for the current illustration and defence of the Chris-

tian religion, —this theme and these topics under it are

certainly not new. They are familiar, trite, common-

place. Yet it seems to me that in this field a pains-

taking student may still hope to gather something. The

older treatments seem to me inadequate, by reason of a

certain lack of insight into the literary character of the

sources and into the nature of historical movements, and

by reason of too great reliance on traditional interpre-

tations. The newer treatments seem to me yet more

inadequate, by reason of the too easy rejection of por-

tions of the testimony, and the too ready substitution

of conjecture for evidence. Both leave something to

be desired in this field of study, and something that is

not beyond the reach of diligence and industry.

4 THE PROPHETS AND THE PROMISE

Without taking time to discuss thoroughly the prin-

ciples that should govern such an investigation as this,

I shall try to present, in this preliminary chapter, a few

considerations touching the sources to be used and the

interpretation of them, followed by a brief outline of the

treatment that will be attempted.

I. The Old Testament is our one direct source of in-

formation concerning the prophets and their teachings.

Indirect sources are, first, the New Testa-

Sources ment and other later writings, including the

evidence of the 'monuments; second, analogies drawn

from other religions, or from later times, or from our

theories or opinions.

Of these sources the Old Testament, supplemented

at some points by the New, is principal, and all others

The scrip- are subsidiary. Simple as this fact is, it is

tures as a imperative that we pay it due attention. Our

source generation is much in the habit of substitut-

ing superficial reading for careful study. If a person

has read a hundred volumes, in six or seven languages,

concerning the prophets, he is in danger of fancying

that he has done more work on the subject than if he

had carefully examined all that the Old and New !Testa-

ments say about them. To avoid being misled, he

should have it in mind that the hundred volumes con-

tain very little real information save that which has

been drawn from these principal sources. Nireteen-

twentieths of all that we really know on this subject

comes from the bible. Only the other twentieth comes

from extrabiblical tradition, or from monuments, or from

the analogy of other religions, or by inference from

the theories we hold, or from our general knowledge

of things and men.

My purpose is, mainly, to reexamine the evidence

PRELIMINARY 5

found in the Old and New Testaments. To some this

programme will seem exceedingly simple and rudimen-

tary. They would think it a greater thing to The need

read many books, and discuss the bearing of of original

their contents on the subject in hand. But study

no amount of reading can supersede the necessity of

examining for ourselves the direct evidence in the case.

Just this has been more neglected than anything else

in dealing with the subject of the prophets of Israel.

Men of learning as well as others have neglected it.

We must do this first of all, and do it with care, or

all other study of the subject will be of little value

to us.

Men have assumed that they were already famil-

iar with what the Old Testament says concerning the

prophets, when they were not really so ; and have

hastened on prematurely to the examination of the col-

lateral branches of the evidence. Many of the current

statements as to what the Old Testament says are based

on analogies, or on later traditions, to a much greater

extent than on the actual testimony of the Old Testa-

ment. Such statements are instances of mistaken

method. The direct evidence in the case is not only

the most important, but it is essential to the correct

understanding of the indirect evidence. The indirect

evidence can genuinely assist in interpreting the direct

only on condition of its being itself interpreted by

the direct. In Old Testament studies, the thing now

more needed than anything else is a more correct

knowledge of what the Old Testament says. Always

the, beginner should begin by attaining to this correct

knwledge; and at present, in Old Testament work,

this is the need of advanced scholars as well as of

beginners.

6 THE PROPHETS AND THE PROMISE

At once we see the importance of the question of the;

degree of credence to be accorded to the testimony of

In what degree our principal sources, If we hold to a divine

is the testimony inspiration that guarantees the remarkable

credible? truthfulness of all parts of the bible, it

does not therefore follow that we must take this doc

trine as a presupposition in our historical study of

the prophets. And if one holds that the bible is full

of mistaken statements, that does not justify him in an,

undiscriminating rejection of the statements concerning

the prophets. Both as a matter of correct method;

and for the sake of convincing those with whom we

differ, we should waive, at the outset, all questions of

inspiration, and treat our sources merely as literature

that has come down to us from a remote past. In

respect to trustworthiness we will make no stronger

claim than this : that statements of fact found in the

Old and New Testaments are to be provisionally

regarded as true except as reasons appear to the

contrary.

This is not an extravagant claim to make for the

truthfulness of the scriptures. Our courts would accor l

as much credence as this, not to a reputable witness

only, but even to a witness who is a jailbird or a harlot

or a noted liar. If statements of fact are self-contradic-

tory, or contrary to known truth, we will not accept

them. Even if they are seemingly credible we will at

the outset accept them only provisionally, till we can

test them by their results when we bring them into corr.-

bination with other truths. We will fully admit the prin-

ciple that human historians often make mistakes. Blot

this we must insist upon: that statements of fact are

to be provisionally accepted unless there are substantial

reasons for not accepting them.

PRELIMINARY 7

It follows that in using the testimony of the Old and

New Testaments on this and other questions, we ought

to begin with a direct examination, and not Direct examination

with a cross-examination. We ought to take versus cross-

the trouble to understand what their statements examination

mean, in the form in which they have come down to us,

as preliminary to testing the truth of them, and either

accepting or rejecting them.

As our investigation depends largely on the question

of the historical correctness of the affirmations of the

bible, so it depends indirectly on questions Dependence

concerning the structure, the date, and the on critical

authorship of the books. For these have questions

their bearing on the question of historicity, and also on

the question of the interpretation of the statements we

find. Yet we need not wait till all these other questions

are settled before we begin our studies concerning the

prophets. Indeed, many of the questions concerning

the prophets are more simple and primary than the

others, and therefore ought to be studied first, that the

results reached may assist us in our inquiries into mat-

ters that are less obvious.

Our first inquiry is : What are the representations of

the Old Testament in regard to the prophets? In other

words : What manner of men were the proph- The provi-

ets, supposing the statements of the Old sional point

Testament concerning them to be historical, of view

so far as they purport to be so, and supposing them also

to be correct? From the point of view of all parties this

is a fair question. It is supposable that, in seeking the

answer, we may find the statements of the Old Testa-

ment unsatisfactory, but at the outset the question is a

fair one. On the supposition that the Old Testament

gives a truthful account of the prophets of Israel, what

8 THE PROPHETS AND THE PROMISE

is that account? We do not affirm that it give a

truthful account; we do not deny it; we simply up-

pose it.

It is wisest to start from this point of departure, not

trying to settle beforehand all questions in regard to the

character or the trustworthiness of our data, but using

them at first as provisional, and as leading only to pro-

visional results. We shall surely test the data as we ad-

vance. If they are not trustworthy, we shall find it but.

If they are trustworthy, we shall see them to be so, and

shall thus transform our provisional results into final

results.

These last considerations are important. How shall

we determine whether statements of fact found in any

Use as a test source are to be depended upon? There is

of evidence no better test than that of actual use. By

carefully examining what the Old Testament says on

such a subject as the prophets, we may form a judgment

concerning the Old Testament as a source of evidence.

Certain schools of criticism deny that these books are

historically valid, asserting that they are full of anach-

ronisms and inconsistencies and absurdities. In base

this is so, we shall be pretty sure to find traces of the

unhistorical character of the books, if we carefully ex-

amine some section of them, running through different

chronological periods. Such a section for testing them

is afforded in what they say concerning the prophets.

This is found scattered through all the books, including

a vast number of details and allusions, belonging to

periods of time separated by centuries. It is conceivable

beforehand that we may find these details so confused

and inconsistent as to be incredible in many points, and

that we may be compelled to estimate the books accord-

ingly. On the other hand, if we find their account of

PRELIMINARY 9

the prophets to be throughout consistent and probable,

that will be an argument of no little weight in favor of

the historical trustworthiness of the books themselves.

Thus our attitude toward these writings and their

testimony is at the outset neutral. It will not remain

so. As the investigation proceeds we shall inevitably

either gain or lose confidence in the witnesses.

II. In the interpretation of our sources, and especially

of the Old Testament, there is one point in particular in

which we need to be sedulously on our guard. That is

the point where we are in danger of substituting an

eisegetical treatment for an exegetical.

None of us come to this study as to a new and unfa-

miliar subject. We already have pretty distinct ideas

concerning the prophets and their activities, Eisegesis is

and in particular concerning messianic predic- to be avoided

tion, and the meaning and use of the term Messiah. It

is supposable that our preconceived ideas may be crude

and misleading. We can decide this only by holding

them in suspense until we can test them by the facts

we find by study. We cannot be too jealously careful

against the process of merely first putting our ideas into

the Old Testament passages, and then dipping them out

again. There is especial danger of eisegesis from two

sources, Christian theology and theories of Compara-

tive Religion.

We must avoid alike the carrying back of Christian

ideas into the Old Testament and the neglecting of

those ideas that belong to the Old Testament in com-

mon with Christianity.

When we are studying the Old Testament we ought

not to import into it ideas drawn from the New Testa-

ment, or from some scheme of Christian messianic the-

ology. This rule is nowadays often laid down; if we

10 THE PROPHETS AND THE PROMISE

violate it, we shall not do so for lack of being warned; but

it is a correct rule. And we shall not properly observe

Eisegesis of it unless we take pains. We are familiar, for

Christian example, with a certain interpretation of w5at

doctrine the New Testament says concerning Jesus

as the Messiah, and we go to the Old Testament look-

ing for the same teaching expressed in similar terms.

In this way we are likely to find what we are looking

for, whether it is there or not. We sometimes find

thing's where they are not. We put the idea into he

passage, instead of looking to see what is already in he

passage ; and then, by way of interpretation, we take out

just what we have put in, possibly a little miscolored by

the process.

This way of studying the Old Testament is all he

more dangerous because it is not altogether valueless.

The method of interpreting the Old Testament by he

light of the New is within its proper limits correct.

Even when the method is incorrectly used, such study

is study. Though faulty, it may, especially in the case

of persons who have spiritual insight, result in he

reaching of truth. Critically bad as this way of learn-

ing is, we cannot afford to forego it save as we an

replace it by something better.

Nevertheless it is logically bad. It is contrary to

accepted laws of investigation. There are grave objec-

tions to it. First, it is needless. All the truth it yields

is equally attainable by methods that will stand the test

of correct criticism. Second, it is perilous. The truth

we thus reach, though genuinely true, has yet been

inferred from premises that can be shown to be false.

There is danger that when we come to see that he

premises are false, our confidence in the truth will be

shaken. Third, it is wasteful. By this particular way

PRELIMINARY 11

of learning the Old Testament through the New we

obtain from it nothing but a pale reflection of the New.

This is a great loss. In a wide range of truths the

Old Testament is more rudimentary, and therefore

simpler and fuller than the New. It is capable of

illuminating the New, and not merely of being illuminated

by it. When so much light is ready to glow, we cannot

afford to take a point of view which brings the object

perpetually into the shadow.

Equally true, however, and at present far more to

the purpose, is the converse rule that, in studying the

Old Testament, we should not drop out the Eisegesis of

ideas which we actually find there, merely be- negative