The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1904, Page 23

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

NOTES AND ITEMS.

Hicuer Criricism.— A reader of the PIoNEER in
one of our large cities writes: ‘‘Some of my English
neighbors speak very highly of what they call higher
criticism. ... But does not-higher criticism deny
the inspiration of the Bible?” Yes, higher criticism
denies that ‘‘all Scripture is given by inspiration
of God,”’ and that the ‘“‘holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’? Higher
criticism treats the Bible, not as the infallible Word
of God, but as the fallible word of man. The higher
critics look upon the Bible as a human book full of
errors and mistakes, which they consider their busi-
ness to find out. They do not always agree among
themselves, and by the time they are through with
their infidel work the Bible is torn to pieces, and
we have nothing left but the covers. Higher crit-
icism is destructive criticism. Its aim is to destroy
the foundation upon which all Christian doctrine and
all our comfort rest, and ‘‘if the foundations be
destroyed, what can the righteous do?”’ Ps. 11, 3.
Therefore, beware of higher criticism, no matter
how highly others speak of it, who have been mis-
led by sectarian preachers.

A Hiauer Criric. — Down in North Carolina we
heard of a Bible agent who traveled through several
counties, selling Bibles and other religious books.
Coming one day to a small plantation, he left his
wagon on the road with one of the Bibles on the seat
and entered the farmhouse. A mule, lazily strolling
down the road, soon spied the book on the wagon
seat, took it between his teeth, dragged it down, and
tore it to pieces, so that the agent found nothing left
but the covers of the book. That North Carolina
mule was a higher critic.

HiGuer CriricisM IN THE Mission FretpD.—The
higher criticism has entered, not only thousands of
sectarian pulpits and Sunday schools in Christian
lands, but also the mission field in heathen coun-
tries. Ina Report from India we read that ‘‘a mis-
sionary conference was recently held in Calcutta
at which the native Christians were informed that
there were mistakes in the Bible, and that it was

not the absolutely reliable Word of God which the’

earlier missionaries had declared it to be.’? Atsuch
infidel teachings of so-called Christian missionaries
the devil rejoices, and the enemies of Christ are
jubilant. A Mohammedan expresses his joy as fol-
lows in an Fast India paper: ‘‘Thus has the Bible
been swept away as a straw before the mighty cur-
rent of modern criticism, and such was the fate it

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deserved. It is not the unmixed Word of God, it
is not unerring. Such is the modern Christian faith,
and we are glad to see that even the Christian mis-
sionaries have recognized the truth of those views.
What is not itself free from error cannot free
others.... But if the Bible is erroneous in certain
parts, while other parts of it contain some truth,
what tests do the Christians have in their hands for
distinguishing truth from error? If it is reason,
then the Christian faith must openly avow itself to
be based on reason and not on revelation. But if
their test is revelation, surely some pure and trust-
worthy revelation free from error is required to sift
the truth from the falsehood contained in the Bible.
This revelation is found in the holy Koran. Weare
glad to see that the view which the holy Koran took
of the Bible has at last been admitted by even the
missionaries. The truth of the higher criticism and
the error of the Bible being once recognized, it is
difficult to see how the Christian religion can stand
for one moment.’’

At such reading the hearts of God’s children are
filled with sorrow, and they are moved to pray God
earnestly to stay the course of this modern in- -
fidelity, called higher criticism.

Mission 1N Cu1nA.—The China Inland Mission
began mission work in China thirty-eight years ago,
and has now 800 missionaries working in the in-
terior of that large heathen land. Ata recent large
missionary gathering in Boston one of the mis-
sionaries said: Eyerything has come to this great
work through prayer. It has always been the cus-
tom of this mission: not to appeal for funds, never
to advertise its needs, and to keep no subscrip-
tion list. The income for the mission amounts to
$360,000 a year, and there is no knowing where
most of it comes from. The need of men is more
important than money, men that will lay down their
very lives for the saving of souls. All the workers .
of the China Inland Mission live and dress as the
natiyes do. There are now 277 organized stations
in the interior, with a record of 15,000 converts.
The average number of persons baptized each year
is between 1200 and 1300. :

HEATHEN Crurerrty.—The same speaker related
several stories to show what little value the heathen
Chinese place upon the lives of their countrymen.
The speaker stated that it was not unusual for a
man to drown in the sight of Chinese, and without
the least effort being made to save him. What
cruelty! ‘‘But,’’ added the missionary, ‘‘isn’t it
less cruel to let a man drown who can easily be

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