LECTURE I. And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.—Matt. ii. 11 (R.V.). LECTURE I. PART I.-Need of reform in that part of orthodox theology which relates to the Old Testament.-New facts have come and are coming to light, new critical results have been and are being obtained, which will contribute some essential elements to the new apologetic theology. Some of these arise out of the historical study of the Psalter. The criticism of the earlier Lectures will furnish a basis for the historico-theological outlines of the later ones.-The error of the older interpreters—their neglect of the Psalters within the Psalter. -How Carpzov opened the door to criticism; importance of the colophon, Ps. lxxii. 20.-We must argue backwards from the date of Books IV. and V. to that of any earlier groups of psalms.-Three strongly marked features of these books enable us to determine their period. - The argument leads up to the view that the collection of Books IV. and V. is contemporaneous with a reorganization of the temple music under Simon the Maccabee. PART II.-Books IV. and V. must now be analyzed into groups. -Why such groups can be discovered here with special ease.—Are there any which require a Maccabæan date for their adequate explanation?—A priori historical reasons for expecting such.-Immediately available criteria of Maccabæan psalms. — Application of these to the three psalms which are most plausibly viewed as Maccabæan, viz., cxviii., cx., cxlix., and first to Ps. cxviii., the most striking psalm of the group (Pss. cxv.-cxviii.), which forms the second part of the Hallel.'- Both this psalm and the rest of the group shown to be Maccabean; occasion of Ps. cxviii., the purification of the temple.-A fresh canon of criticism.— Theories of the origin of Ps. cx. examined. The Maccabean theory preferred.The subject, Simon the Maccabee; see 1 Macc. xiv. 8-15, and for the impression produced by Simon's career, Orac. Sib. iii. 652-660.—The occasion, the capture of the Acra; comp. Ps. cx. 3.-Why 'the order of Melchizedek '?—An answer to the objections brought against the high priesthood of Simon.-Can Simon's eulogist have been inspired? A twofold answer: (1) Inspiration recognizes the limitations of human nature; (2) Ps. cx. is germinally Messianic,' and the indirect Messianic prediction which underlies the psalm was not based on illusion. PART I. THE PSALTERS WITHIN THE PSALTER. MAY the spirit of these words sink into my mind, and so perfume with its fragrance every critical detail, that the youngest student may feel the Christian earnestness of these inquiries. There are some who tell us that criticism is without sympathies, and cares not to become interesting to those who have. For my own part, I think that sympathy is one condition of historical insight, and if I had no sympathy with that Old Testament religion, as the ripe fruit of which I regard primitive Christianity, I should know that my labours would be smitten with sterility. As for being interesting, that is an object which perhaps I may not always gain, but which I shall most assuredly continue to aim at. I have tried to take the step myself from knowing to imagining, and I shall endeavour to help others both to know more and to imagine better. With such principles, I invite you to-day into a faroff land, like that from which the Magi came, the land of Israel's religious antiquity. We will study the products of the soil, and gather such precious gifts as we can for Him to whom the star will point us. You will follow me sometimes at a distance, for I cannot put before you the whole of a complicated argument. Preserve your independence, but grant me at least the respect which belongs to a native English worker. A lost leader of old Oxford has told us how, after twenty years in a new spiritual climate, he felt no delicacy in speaking with some authority. Those words I may venture to apply to myself. After more than twenty years of deepening experience of free Bible-study, I have earned a right to another title than that of 'Germanizer.' The Newman, Difficulties felt by Anglicans, p. 372. phrase 'German criticism,' in the sense in which it is commonly used, is, indeed, scarcely accurate. Enthusiastic as one's regard must be for the past and present Biblical scholars of Germany, it remains true that Biblical science did not begin with them; nor can it, even in the Old Testament, be by them exhausted. I have said that I would fain be interesting, and it is especially to churchmen in the widest sense, both in England and in America, that I make my appeal. Reforms in that part of orthodox theology which relates to the Old Testament are, as many think, urgent, for to neglect them would mean the unchecked progress of the great spiritual revolt. Will these reforms be ungrudgingly conceded? Gleams of hope have lately visited us in the English-speaking countries; but I am well aware of the remaining hindrances. Not yet have the workers sufficiently realized that the time for compromise on certain points is over,' and that you must not 'put a piece of new cloth upon an old garment.' Let us at least in Oxford not confound inconsistency with reverence, nor deny to Old Testament subjects the complete revision which they need. Let St. Paul be our model-St. Paul, that great reviser of exegesis, and yet steeped in reverence. The truths of the past, let us, like him, revere, but not its errors. Imposing enough were those errors in the past; St. Paul himself in the field of criticism could not but be subject to them. A poetic attractiveness they had, which ensured their supremacy, and the Christian ideas of which they were the vehicle gave them. the semblance of truth. But by degrees religion has outgrown its shelter. Fancied knowledge respecting the Old Testament has been weighed in the balances and found wanting. The old house has fallen, and great has been the fall of it. To us, teachers of historical theology, and cramped by no theory of the inspiration of books, younger students look for guidance in the seeming chaos." They need first a true statement of the present position of criticism, and next an assignment of the share of work which belongs to them. The precise meaning of this qualification has been explained elsewhere (see Preface). For all notes referred to by letters see at end of the Part. The chaos indeed is no longer absolute; it would be misleading to say that we are only now beginning to reconstruct. Sound results have already been obtained, which are definite enough to modify very largely our view of the Old Testament. These results must be popularized with wise discretion. But there are others which are only in course of being obtained, and the sufficient demonstration of which is still future. It is these which call for the renewed research of young scholars who have passed through a faithful apprenticeship. The genuine student has a large faith in the future. Historical truth is not 'like a sinking star,' and if we band ourselves together in manly modesty and in general agreement as to principles, we shall accomplish a serviceable though still imperfect reconstruction. I think that this prospect ought to allure fresh labourers, and to revive the courage of the old. Our work ought to show by its brighter and more buoyant style the new and hopeful stage upon which we are entering. The false facts and mistaken inferences of the past should be brushed aside with a proper impatience. Dulness, conventionality, and repetition, are qualities out of date, now that the Hebrew Scriptures are fully recognized as a literature, and have taken their fitting place alone, yet not alone, at the head of the sacred books of the East. To explore the recesses of this literature, so like and yet so unlike every other, in a free but sympathetic spirit, and show the importance of the results for the historical comprehension of our religion, would supply themes for a goodly company of Bampton lecturers. I have chosen the Psalter for myself, because the study of this book in England has hardly kept pace with that of the narrative books of the Old Testament. It is indeed a favourite with all classes; as many winged words from it have passed into common use as from any other part of the Scriptures. But it is only beginning to attract the attention of Bible-students, and the language in which St. Chrysostom stirs up the Christians of his own day to a more intelligent use of the Psalter is still but too applicable to ourselves. It is surely no unworthy ambition to enable the English-speaking peoples to love and honour 1 Hom, in Ps. cxl. (cxli.). |