But the Christian has still stronger reasons for believing in the genuineness and divine origin of the Pentateuch. He has the testimony of the Son of God and His inspired apostles. And here it is to be observed, in the first place, that our Lord and His apostles speak of the Pentateuch in the language common to the Jews in all times, as “The Law.” Sometimes this expression was used of the Old Testament. But when spoken of in connection with the other portions as, “The Law and the Prophets,” or, “The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms," it means the five books attributed to Moses. In the next place it is to be noted, that our Lord, the evangelists, and the apostles regard the Law as a divine revelation, and therefore possessing a divine authority. By Luke (2:23, 24, 39), it is called “The law of the Lord.” Paul (Rom. 7:2222For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Romans 7:22)) calls it “The law of God,” He also teaches that obedience to the law gives life, transgression entails death (Rom. 7:7-117What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. (Romans 7:7‑11): compare Gal. 3:1010For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10)). Again, when St. Paul cites the words of the Pentateuch, he ascribes them to God; for example, “God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them,” (2 Cor. 6:1616And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:16), compared with Lev. 26:11, 1211And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. (Leviticus 26:11‑12)).
The whole system of New Testament doctrine concerning salvation, the guilt of man, the curse of the law, and redemption by the blood of Christ, rests upon the supposition that the Law is a divine revelation. In like manner the whole argument of the Epistle to the Hebrews concerning Christ's priesthood, the nature of His atonement, the typification of the gospel in Levitical ordinances, necessarily presupposes the divine origin of the Law (Heb. 8:5; 10:15Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. (Hebrews 8:5)
1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (Hebrews 10:1), &c.). Our Lord also ascribes divine authority to the Law. He refers to it as the highest authority (Matt. 12:55Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? (Matthew 12:5), and Luke 10:25, 2625And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? (Luke 10:25‑26)), and speaks of its precepts as “The commandments of God” (Matt. 15:33But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? (Matthew 15:3)). According to our Lord's teaching, the Law is so entirely divine, that “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one jot or tittle of the law to fail” (Luke 16:16, 1716The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. 17And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. (Luke 16:16‑17)), and therefore is to be violated by none (Matt. 5:1919Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)), “Whosoever shall break (or, weaken the authority, λύσῃ) of one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” To assert the divine authority of the Law more strongly, is impossible.
In the third place, it is to be observed, that our Lord and His apostles taught that the Pentateuch was given by Moses, that he was the penman and wrote the laws as given him by God. Thus the word “Moses” is frequently put instead of “the Law.” So Luke says (24:27), “Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” Again, our Lord says (Luke 16:2929Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. (Luke 16:29)), “They have Moses and the prophets—if they hear not Moses and the prophets.” In these places the name of Moses is put for what Moses wrote, as “the prophets” for their writings. Still stronger is what the Lord says (John 7:1919Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? (John 7:19)), “Did not Moses give you the law?” In Luke 2:2222And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (Luke 2:22), and Acts 15:55But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. (Acts 15:5), it is called “The Law of Moses.” Our Lord Himself says, “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses” (compare Acts 28:2323And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. (Acts 28:23), and 13:39).
No doubt it may, however, be said that the Pentateuch is called Moses and the Law of Moses, because it contains the history and some commands of Moses, on which was based the subsequent legislation; but that these expressions do not necessarily imply that Moses wrote the books. But the New Testament goes farther, and states distinctly that the books were written by Moses. In Matt. 22:2424Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. (Matthew 22:24) the Jews said to our Lord, “Moses said;” in John 8:55Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? (John 8:5), “Moses in the law commanded us;” again in Mark 12:1919Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. (Mark 12:19), and in Luke 20:2828Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. (Luke 20:28), “Moses wrote unto us.” The Lord, in His reply, confirms this opinion as to the authorship of the law, saying, “Have ye not read in the book of Moses?” (Mark 12:2626And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? (Mark 12:26)). In the parallel passage (Luke 20:3737Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Luke 20:37)), our Lord says, “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called Jehovah the God of Abraham,” &c. Moses can only be said to call God by that title by being the historian of what God had called Himself. The historian calls God the God of Abraham.
Moses therefore was the historian; and therefore our Lord says to the Jews (Mark 7:1010For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: (Mark 7:10)), “Moses said, Honor thy father and mother,” and again, when speaking of divorce (Mark 10:55And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. (Mark 10:5)), “For the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept;” and, in like manner (John 5:46, 4746For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:46‑47)), “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” (Compare John 1:45, 4645Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (John 1:45‑46); Acts 3:2222For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (Acts 3:22)). James says in like manner, “Moses is read in the synagogue every Sabbath day” (Acts 15:2121For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (Acts 15:21)), Paul says (Rom. 10:55For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. (Romans 10:5)), “Moses writeth (γράϕει) the righteousness of the law,” referring to Lev. 18:55Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 18:5). It is evident therefore that our Lord and His apostles regarded the Pentateuch as the law of Moses, the book of Moses as the writings of Moses.
Fourthly, it appears also that they received the history which that book contains as true and authentic, the miraculous and supernatural as well as that which is according to the common course of nature. Thus in Mark 10:99What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Mark 10:9) the Lord refers to the creation of Adam and Eve as historically true, and on the words of Adam founds His own command” What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” In Matt. 24:3737But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37) He refers to the deluge, the destruction of the world, and the preservation of Noah; in Luke 17:3232Remember Lot's wife. (Luke 17:32), to the fire and brimstone which destroyed Sodom and the cities of the plain, and the transformation of Lot's wife into a pillar of salt. So He refers to the appearance of God in the burning bush; the miraculous effect of looking at the brazen serpent; and the miraculous supply of manna as typical of Himself, where the comparison necessarily implies the truth of the fact (John 3:14; 6:49-5114And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (John 3:14)
49Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:49‑51)). Stephen repeats almost word for word the history of Abraham's miraculous call, the birth of Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve Patriarchs, the miraculous circumstances of the Exodus, and the giving of the Law (Acts 7).
Furthermore Paul compares the first and last Adam, and refers to the creation of the former from the dust of the earth (1 Cor. 15:21, 4721For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:21)
47The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47), &c.), and to the creation of the woman (1 Cor. 11:7-97For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 9Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. (1 Corinthians 11:7‑9)). He also refers to the temptation by the serpent, and the transgression of the woman, as real history (2 Cor. 11:33But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3); 1 Tim. 2:13, 1413For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1 Timothy 2:13‑14)); and in Rom. 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12) he founds an argument upon the fact that death entered by sin. In Rom. 4:1919And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: (Romans 4:19) he refers to the miraculous conception and birth of Isaac, and in 9:10-13, to the election of Jacob and the rejection of Esau, as true history. He makes the Passover the ground of an exhortation to holiness (1 Cor. 5:7, 87Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7‑8)) and presses upon the attention of the Corinthians (10:1-3) the passage through the Red Sea, the guidance of the pillar and cloud, as well as the miraculous supply of water; and upon that most miraculous trait in the history of the manna, that he that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered little had no lack, he founds directions respecting the exercise of charity (2 Cor. 8:1515As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack. (2 Corinthians 8:15)). In 1 Cor. 10:88Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. (1 Corinthians 10:8) he refers to Baal Peor; and in 2 Cor. 3:1313And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: (2 Corinthians 3:13), to the miraculous glory in the countenance of Moses. He evidently receives the whole as inspired, authentic, and authoritative; holy, just, and good; a schoolmaster unto Christ; when the one object of his life, to preach justification by faith without the law, would naturally have led him to depreciate its authority, if he had not been instructed by the Spirit to receive it as a divine revelation.
Again, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. 11, reference is plainly made to the Mosaic history from Cain and Abel to the passage of the Red Sea, as well as to the circumstances of awe and majesty under which the Law was given (chap. 12:18-21); to the wanderings and death of the rebellious Israelites (chap. 3:7-19), and the early institution of the Sabbath.
St. James, it is clear, refers to the offering of Isaac (2:21); and St. Peter points to the example of Sarah (1 Peter 3:66Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. (1 Peter 3:6)), to the deliverance of Noah (2 Peter 2:5, 9, 155And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; (2 Peter 2:5)
9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: (2 Peter 2:9)
15Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; (2 Peter 2:15)); the destruction of Sodom; and the dumb ass rebuking the madness of the prophet.
These direct references, not now to speak of the numberless allusions to the Pentateuch in all the writings of the New Testament, prove that Christ, and the apostles to whom He gave the Spirit to guide them into all truth, did not accommodate themselves to the popular belief of the Jews; but knew, and heartily believed in, the truth, the divine origin and Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Christ's omniscience and the working of the Spirit of Truth in the apostles are sufficient warrant for the faith of every Christian man. Whether he can solve difficulties or not, he has the infallible testimony of Christ and His inspired apostles, and that is an answer to all objectors. He feels that he cannot reject the Pentateuch without renouncing his faith in his Savior. Christ Himself has stated the indissoluble connection between faith in the Pentateuch and faith in Himself. “If ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”
Bishop Colenso has proved in his own person the truth of the Savior's appeal. He first rejects the Pentateuch; he then robs Christ of His Deity, by denying His Omniscience. According to him, Christ's knowledge as to “the authorship and age of the different portions of the Pentateuch” did not “surpass that of the most pious and learned of His nation." In perfect consistency with these sentiments, when he rejects Moses and the Pentateuch, he does not ask us in order to fill up the aching void, to fall back upon Christ and the Gospels, but upon the theology of the Sikh Gooroos, and other heathen, “who had no Pentateuch or Bible to teach” them. And this is in fact the drift of the new theology, to bring us back to scientific heathenism. Bishop Colenso has spoken out what others have been mumbling in dark sentences. But whilst it is possible to contrast the condition of Christendom with that of the Hindus, the Chinese of the present day, or the great nations of classical antiquity—the republic of Moses with the republic of Plato—the power of Christ's doctrine with the effects of the teaching of Socrates—we think it more agreeable to reason, as well as to piety, to refuse the new heathenizing theories; to abide by the old catholic doctrine, and hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints. [We are indebted to the late pious and learned Alexander 11I'Caul, D.D. for this masterly refutation of these shallow attacks borrowed from German sources by deluded Englishmen, as apposite to-day as more than forty years ago in his Examination of Bp. Colenso's Difficulties (London, Bivingtons, Waterloo Place).—Ed. B.T.]
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