540th OKDINAEY GENEEAL MEETING, 



HELD IN THE BOOMS OF THE INSTITUTE ON 

 MONDAY, FEBRUAKY 17th, 1913, AT 4.30 p.m. 



The Very Eev. the Dean of Canterbury took the Chair. 



The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and signed. 



METHODS OF BIBLICAL CRITICISM. By the Yen. 

 Archdeacon William Sinclair, D.D., some time Arch- 

 deacon of London, and Canon of St. Paul's, Eector of 

 Shermanbury, and Hon. Chaplain to the King. 



Present Position of Higher Criticism. 



HE present attitude of Higher Criticism is summarized by 

 Professor Peake as follows : — 



" There are four main documents in the Pentateuch. None 

 of these go back to Moses, and it is dubious whether any of 

 them incorporates any writing from his hand. The two earliest, 

 which are commonly known by the symbols J. and E. (from 

 their use of the names Jehovah and Elohim for God), belong to 

 the golden age of Hebrew literature, probably to the period of 

 the Monarchy. These contain the fascinating stories which we 

 find in the narrative sections. 



" As an outcome of the work done by the great prophets of 

 the eighth century — Amos and Hosea, Isaiah and Micah — the 

 Beuteronomic Law was written. This aimed at purifying the 

 worship of God by abolishing all the local sanctuaries of high 

 places, and centralizing worship at Jerusalem. It was this law 

 which formed the basis of Josiah's Eeformation in 621. The 

 latest portion of the Pentateuch is the Priestly Document 

 containing some sections in Genesis, and large parts of the 

 legal sections in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. This docu- 

 ment carried out the ideas involved in the centralization of the 



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