Biblical Criticism
the science which has for its objects (1) to decide which books are entitled to have a place in the Scripture canon, and (2) to bring the text of these canonical books to the utmost possible degree of purity. In prosecuting the first of these aims, the Biblical critic must not be confounded with the Christian apologist; the function of the former is a strictly judicial one, while the office of the latter is that of an advocate. One important subject of investigation is as to what Old Testament books were recognized as divine by the ancient Jewish Church or Synagogue; as also what New Testament books were at once and universally welcomed by the early Christian Church, BICARBONATE and what others were for a time partially rejected, though they ultimately found acceptance everywhere. Biblical Criticism has received its highest development in the hands of German scholars, who attacked its problems with an energy and destructiveness which, for a time, threatened to leave little of the authority or authenticity of the text.
In recent years a reaction from these radical methods has set in, and while scholars recognize the necessity of applying the laws of criticism to the sacred texts, there is a pronounced disposition, founded on archæological and philological researches, to leave the authority of the texts unimpaired, unless there is unquestioned reason for disputing it.