COXCEENING THE COMPOSITION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. 193 



been amongst them, it seems to me, a class or section of the more 

 enlightened of the people, who had a purer and better knowledge of 

 the Deity than the Babylonians as a whole possessed. But I find it 

 very difficult to speak on the points that Mr. Tuckwell has touched 

 on. I consider this to be a most valuable paper, and I have listened 

 to it with a considerable amount of interest. It puts the matter 

 before us plainly, and it shows one (I speak quite as a layman on such 

 a matter as this) how inconsistent such theories as the higher critics 

 bring forward can be ; but, at the same time, we must admit that 

 these higher critics have done a great deal of good, and that when 

 we come nearer to the end of these controversies we shall be able to 

 see how far the}^ have helped forward the subject, and enabled us to 

 come to a true conclusion with regard to the documents with which 

 we have been familiar so long. 



I must ask you to pardon the imperfection of my remarks. It is 

 not a subject that I have studied, but I have tried to say just a few 

 words from the archaeological point of view, as requested by the 

 Chairman. 



Dr. A. T. SCHOFIELD. — Might I say that we always hear everything 

 against the higher critics and everything bad of them, and no doubt 

 they deserve a great deal of it. They seem, certainh^, from the 

 perusal of many of their researches, to display what seems to us to 

 be an extraordinary amount of incredulity and of invention and 

 facilities for raising more difficulties than we can take in. But the 

 point to which I speak is one of conscious irreverence, or conscious 

 stupidity. 



It seems to me we must give some of these men credit 

 for their earnest endeavours to arrive at the truth, and that we must 

 also give them an immense amount of credit for the value of their 

 textual criticisms in many places. Professor Margoliouth called my 

 attention to some, some time ago, and it is one part of their work. 



It seems to me that their work is of two characters, that where it 

 is legitimate criticism it is of real value, that where it is mere 

 speculation of the human mind concerning what professes to be the 

 word of God, their wisdom seems suddenly to become foolishness. 



Professor Langhorne Orchard. — I am sure we shall all be glad 

 if the " higher critics " will adopt Dr. Schofield's suggestion, and, 

 leaving " higher criticism," confine themselves to the more useful, 

 if less ambitious, work of textual criticism. 



