INTRODUCTION THE LITERARY STUDY OF THE BIBLE AS DISTINCT FROM THEOLOGY AND CRITICISM It is a purpose of this book to distinguish what will be here called the Literary Study of the Bible from other studies; more particularly from theology, and from that historical treatment which chiefly at the present time is associated with biblical criticism. It may be convenient to approach this distinction from the side of illustration. I will take the fourth and fifth chapters of Judges, describing the oppression of Israel under Jabin king of Canaan and their deliverance by Deborah and Barak, as a portion of Scripture in which the three treatments may well be compared. The first type of study accepts the canonical books of Scripture as a foundation for theology and a manual of devotion. To a student of this order it is a shock to find within the sacred volume an incident involving coldblooded assassination with treacherous violation of hospitality, not brought forward to be denounced, or even palliated, but displayed with evident exultation. Such a circumstance is calculated to raise the reflection: Is the Bible to be understood as a theological system, in which every section is a fragment of complete truth? or does the Bible comprise a theological evolution, bringing to view immature strugglings after right, as well as its complete revelation? This is not the place to discuss such a question that it is raised by a particular portion of Scripture is sufficient illustration of the first study. For a second department of Bible study matters of history are the chief concern. Who are the authors of the books of Scripture? What periods produced them? Have we the original form in which the books appeared, or have they been compiled out of earlier materials? What evidence do the different parts of the Bible thus carry as to the life of the far past? A student interested in questions like these will seize upon the differences between the fourth and fifth chapters of Judges, both treating the same incident: differences so great that the writer of the fifth chapter can hardly be supposed to have had the fourth chapter before him. The discussion will naturally arise as to whether The Book of Judges was the original composition of a single author, or whether it may not be made up of traditional poems, like the Song of Deborah in the fifth chapter, and later history, like that of the fourth, with or without an editor to bring the parts together. The third type I am calling literary study. No doubt the word 'literary' is used in many different senses: what I have in mind is the study of the various forms of which a literature is made up. When we speak of 'Greek literature' or 'English literature' every one thinks of certain dramas, epics, philosophical works, histories, poems, stories, and the like, produced by the Greek or English peoples. If then the Bible is to be called 'literature,' we ought to expect to find in it dramas, stories, philosophical works, histories, songs, and similar forms of literature. Where these are the chief interest of a student he will delight to distinguish, in the |